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Thomas Tuchel has reportedly decided to draft Jude Bellingham back into his England squad for the November internationals. The Real Madrid superstar was surprisingly left out of the Three Lions’ ranks in October after recovering from shoulder surgery and returning to action at club level. The expectation is that he will figure in 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania.
Eyebrows were raised when Tuchel chose to overlook Bellingham for fixtures that saw England book their tickets to next summer’s global gathering in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The German tactician stuck with those that performed admirably in September.
Tuchel claimed that Bellingham was left out as he was lacking “rhythm” after several weeks on the sidelines. The 22-year-old midfielder has not represented his country since June, with his international coach going on to reveal that his mother finds some of Bellingham’s on-field behavior “repulsive”.
Questions were asked of Bellingham’s character on the back of those comments, with Tuchel eager to establish squad harmony ahead of a bid for World Cup glory. He has said: “We are not collecting the most talented players, we are trying to build a team. Teams win trophies, no-one else.
“That’s how it is in international football. But the thing you are playing [back to me] is not what I am saying. You are playing the game that says: ‘He [Tuchel] is saying the others who aren’t in the team, you cannot build a team with them’. It’s not like this. We built a team with the players who were available and they did so well so we go again with them. Nobody said we can’t do the same with them. Or even better, or maybe the same level, with the others.
“For this moment we stick with our choice and the radical statement is that we don’t collect the most talented players. We collect the guys who have the glue and cohesion to be the best team. Because we need to arrive as the best team. We will arrive as underdogs at the World Cup because we haven’t won it for decades, and we will play against teams who have repeatedly won it during that time. So we have to arrive as a team, or we will have no chance.”
England, who have already topped their World Cup qualification group after taking maximum points from six fixtures that have all delivered clean sheets, will be back in action on November 13 when the team plays host to Serbia. They will then travel to Albania three days later as their 2025 schedule is wrapped up.
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