FIFA set a deadline of April 10 1962 for preliminary lists of forty players to be submitted. England's selectors produced theirs, two days early. Following England's defeat by Scotland at Hampden Park, the squad was whittled down to 22 names on April 15, with the following 18 excluded: Tony Macedo, Fulham; John Angus, Burnley; Shay Brennan (who later played for the Republic of Ireland), Manchester United; Ron Henry, Tottenham Hotspur; Mick McNeil, Middlesbrough; Tony Kay, Sheffield Wednesday; Tony Knapp, Southampton; Brian Miller, Burnley; Bobby Moore, West Ham United; Alan Mullery, Fulham; Jimmy Bloomfield, Birmingham City; Alan Finney, Sheffield Wednesday; Fred Hill, Bolton Wanderers; Jimmy Melia, Liverpool; Terry Paine, Southampton; Ray Pointer, Burnley; Bobby Smith, Tottenham Hotspur; and Peter Thompson, Preston North End.

Of the 22 selected, Leicester City's uncapped goalkeeper, Gordon Banks and the West Bromwich Albion striker, Derek Kevan (who had scored twice at the 1958 tournament), were to remain at home on reserve, whilst the Burnley skipper and uncapped Footballer of the Year, Jimmy Adamson, was to go to Chile as Walter Winterbottom's assistant manager.

On 7 May, the uncapped Bobby Moore, one of the 18 excluded, was reinstated and when the final list was submitted to FIFA, two days after Moore's debut in Lima, Banks' name was omitted, leaving only Kevan as a stay-at-home reserve.