Jude Bellingham's World Cup Battle for England's Starting XI
Thomas Tuchel has made it clear: Jude Bellingham is in a fight.
Not for a place on the plane. For a place in England’s World Cup starting XI.
The Real Madrid midfielder, who only a year ago was the immovable heartbeat of England’s Euro 2024 run, now finds himself part of a crowded core under Tuchel, who coolly revealed he sees “14 or 15 potential starters” in his squad.
“He is one of the starters, he knows he is one of the starters,” Tuchel said, before adding the line that really matters. “But we have 14 or 15 potential starters. These roles can always change, but at the moment I think there are 14 or 15 proper starters and Jude is one of them.”
It is both reassurance and warning. Status, yes. Guarantees, no.
From untouchable to uncertain
Under Gareth Southgate, Bellingham barely left the pitch. He missed just 29 minutes of England’s Euro 2024 campaign, starting all seven matches and carrying the side through long stretches with his drive and personality.
Tuchel’s England has been a different landscape.
Since the German took charge in January 2025, Bellingham has started only four times, with three further appearances off the bench. The man who has instead become the symbol of Tuchel’s new era is Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers, trusted in 12 of the manager’s 13 games and the only player involved in all eight World Cup qualifiers.
The message has been consistent: reputation does not trump role.
Injuries, omissions and a strained relationship
Bellingham’s stop-start rhythm has not helped. The 22-year-old missed two qualifiers last September with a shoulder injury, then watched October’s camp from afar, overlooked even as England faced Latvia in a competitive fixture.
He returned to the fold in November, only to be ruled out of March friendlies with a persistent hamstring issue. Just as he looked ready to build momentum, his body pulled him back.
Around all of that, the spotlight on his relationship with Tuchel has burned fiercely.
Last June, during a defeat to Senegal, Tuchel branded Bellingham’s on-field behaviour “repulsive” – a word that detonated across the England setup and beyond. The manager later apologised, but the remark lodged itself in the narrative around the pair.
By November, Tuchel was again addressing the midfielder’s conduct, saying he would “review” Bellingham’s behaviour after the player reacted angrily to being substituted in a qualifier against Albania. For a footballer whose game thrives on edge and emotion, that line between fire and friction has been under constant inspection.
A captain’s armband and a “sweet spot”
In Tampa on Saturday, there was a different tone. England edged past New Zealand 1-0 in a World Cup warm-up, and Bellingham came on at half-time, took the captain’s armband and seized the stage.
Tuchel liked what he saw.
“You can see Jude has for sure the decisiveness and bite,” he said. “This is his key characteristic, but you can see that he comes from an injury and is full of energy and happy to be back on the pitch.”
Bellingham’s club season had broken at the worst possible time, with a shoulder problem costing him a decisive chunk of Real Madrid’s Champions League push and La Liga title run-in. For a player who thrives on rhythm, it was a brutal interruption.
Tuchel framed it as misfortune for club and player alike. Yet he also suggested that enforced pause might now be working in England’s favour.
“You can see now that he is actually in a sweet spot,” Tuchel said. “He comes back, he’s fresh, he wants to play and he’s in top shape.”
Fresh. Hungry. In form. And still, not guaranteed.
Fight for the shirt
This is the paradox of Bellingham’s England present. He is, by any measure, one of the most gifted players in the squad. He is also operating in a system where Tuchel believes he has a core of 14 or 15 “proper starters” for 11 shirts.
Rogers’ rise has complicated the picture. So has Tuchel’s insistence on discipline, structure and defined roles. Bellingham’s instinct is to roam, to dominate, to bend the game to his will. Tuchel’s instinct is to bend players to the needs of the system.
Somewhere in that tension lies England’s ceiling at this World Cup.
Bellingham has the armband in his hands again, the manager’s praise in his ears and the fitness he lacked in the spring. The stage is set. The question now is simple: in a squad full of “proper starters”, can he make the shirt his again when it matters most?
