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Thomas Tuchel has delivered an unambiguous message to Jude Bellingham, stating that stardom will not buy him a guaranteed starting shirt at the World Cup. The England manager said plainly that his squad now carries “14 or 15 potential starters,” and that even a player of Bellingham’s calibre must fight for his place like everyone else.
“Yes, he has a fight on his hands,” Tuchel said when pressed on Bellingham’s prospects. “He is one of the starters, he knows he is one of the starters, but we have 14 or 15 potential starters.”
It is a remarkable statement about a player who was the centrepiece of England’s Euro 2024 campaign, but it reflects how significantly the landscape has shifted since Tuchel took the reins in January 2025. In that time, the Real Madrid midfielder has started just four matches under the German coach, with three further appearances from the bench a thin return for a player of his reputation.
The man who has quietly filled the space Bellingham once occupied without contest is Morgan Rogers. The Aston Villa midfielder has featured in 12 of England’s 13 matches under Tuchel and is the only player to have appeared in all eight World Cup qualifiers a consistency record that speaks louder than any reputation.
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There are reasons for Bellingham’s reduced involvement beyond tactics. Injuries and fitness problems disrupted parts of his campaign, though Tuchel has been careful not to write him off. After England’s warm-up win over New Zealand where Bellingham came off the bench at half-time and briefly wore the captain’s armband the coach praised his returning sharpness, describing him as back in a “sweet spot” physically and mentally, with “decisiveness and bite” on display.
The competition for midfield places is further stiffened by Declan Rice, who remains a nailed-on starter and vice-captain, providing the kind of tactical anchor that Tuchel builds his teams around.
What emerges from all of this is a portrait of an England squad that no longer revolves around any single player. For Bellingham who is accustomed to being the most important person on whatever pitch he occupies, that is a new and uncomfortable reality. Whether he rises to meet that challenge or finds himself watching from the bench as the World Cup unfolds is now entirely in his own hands.
