Manchester United pair Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho handed World Cup boost after FIFA ruling

Manchester United forwards Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho have been given a World Cup boost after a FIFA ruling was announced.

Football's governing body announced that 26-man squads will be introduced for the tournament in Qatar this winter. Normally, national team head coaches are only able to name 23 players for the finals.

However, the larger squad sizes were introduced for the Euros last summer to help national teams following the Coronavirus pandemic. There will be one difference to this ruling compared to what we saw in the European Championship.

ALSO READ: Steve McClaren says Manchester United will follow Mauricio Pochettino blueprint next season

All 15 of the players who are not picked in the starting XI will be allowed to feature on the bench for their national team. At Euro 2020, managers had to choose three players who would be sitting out of their matchday squad to ensure that only 12 substitutes were named.

This ruling by FIFA will be seen as a positive for Rashford and Sancho who both missed out on Gareth Southgate's Nations League squad for the fixtures in June. Neither man had a brilliant season for United, however, they are both expected to feature heavily in Erik ten Hag's plans before the World Cup in November.

READ NEXT:

Zinedine Zidane breaks four-year silence on Manchester United manager links

Cristiano Ronaldo will love departing Man United ace Juan Mata's theory on Donny van de Beek

Dutch legend's shocking Antony prediction could be made to look even worse by Manchester United

'This could be embarrassing' - Manchester United fans react to Frenkie de Jong latest