Jude Bellingham fails to regain place in England squad
LONDON, England (AP):
Jude Bellingham failed to regain his place in England’s squad yesterday after returning from injury, with Thomas Tuchel stressing the need to maintain a strong team spirit in the camp and saying there are “no guarantees” for his superstar players.
Head coach Tuchel chose to pick largely the same squad that collected World Cup qualifying wins over Andorra and Serbia last month, explaining that those players had “set the standard” – especially with a 5-0 win in Belgrade – and deserved to be given another chance.
That meant no recall for midfielder Bellingham, who has featured in Real Madrid’s last four games after around two months out following shoulder surgery, or Phil Foden, who has rediscovered his form at Manchester City.
There was extra scrutiny on the decision to leave out Bellingham, for a couple of reasons.
On Wednesday, he was voted by supporters as England Player of the Year for the 2024-25 campaign, after coming up with some big moments during the team’s run to the European Championship final last year – notably the late equaliser with an overhead kick against Slovakia in the last 16.
And in August, Tuchel said he had apologised to Bellingham for saying the midfielder’s behaviour “can be a bit repulsive” and that there was “no message, no hidden agenda” behind his comment.
Tuchel said yesterday that there was no personal issue between him and Bellingham – or between him and Foden – and added “the competition is on” to make it in the squad for England’s likely appearance in next year’s World Cup.
“I understand your focus on Jude,” Tuchel told reporters when faced with a barrage of questions about the omission of one of the world’s most high-profile players. “He is a very special player and for special players, there can always be special rules.
“I get this but, for this camp, we decided to stick with our straightforward decision to invite the same team. That applies also for Jude.”
Tuchel, who confirmed that Bellingham wanted to be called up, said an added reason for leaving him out was because he had yet to play a full match for Madrid since his return from injury. He has only started one of the four games he has played in.
England host neighbours Wales in a friendly at Wembley Stadium on Thursday before travelling for a World Cup qualifier in Latvia five days later.