Bellingham Faces Anxious World Cup Wait

England manager Thomas Tuchel has admitted that midfielder Jude Bellingham is not a guaranteed starter, just three days ahead of the start of the 2026 World Cup.

The Real Madrid star is amongst the most high-profile members of Tuchel’s squad for the tournament, which begins on Thursday with Mexico’s clash against South Africa.

But despite missing less than 30 minutes of England’s run to the final of Euro 2024 - under former boss Gareth Southgate - Tuchel was coy on Bellingham’s chances of starting the Three Lions’ opener against Croatia next week.

Tuchel responded “Yes, he has” when asked if Bellingham had a fight on his hands to start the match in Arlington, Texas, on 17 June.

“He is one of the starters, he knows he is one of the starters, 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.”

22-year-old Bellingham made 28 La Liga appearances for Real last season, but only 22 were starts, after periods out with shoulder and hamstring injuries in August and March respectively.

He’s also had a hot and cold relationship with Tuchel, who described his on-field behaviour as “repulsive” during a friendly defeat to Senegal earlier in the season, and he was also left out of the squad for a qualifier against Latvia in October.

Bellingham was a second-half substitute - alongside ten of his England colleagues - in his side’s 1-0 friendly win over New Zealand on Saturday.

And despite Tuchel’s reluctance to commit to starting Bellingham against Croatia, the bookies are largely convinced that he will be in the line-up from the get-go.

Jude is currently 8/13 to start in nine days’ time, with Morgan Rogers, the player most likely to be competing with Bellingham for the starting berth in the number 10 role, slightly longer, albeit still odds-on at 10/11.