/images/ppid_59c68470-image-178068503225511401.webp)
Jude Bellingham remains in a battle for a starting place with England at the World Cup, despite captaining the second half of a 1-0 win over New Zealand in Tampa, Florida, as Thomas Tuchel described the Real Madrid midfielder as one of 14 or 15 potential first-choice options.
Harry Kane scored the only goal in the first of England's public warm-up fixtures, while Tuchel rotated heavily, naming different lineups for each half and using 22 players in total, underlining how competitive positions remain with Croatia awaiting in England's World Cup opener on June 17.
Tuchel confirmed that Bellingham is not certain to start every game, even with a strong status in the squad, saying: Yes. 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 like 14 or 15 proper starters and Jude is one of them. He looks good. He looks good in training. I think he is in a sweet spot at the moment, because he has had his break and he has the hunger to be back on the pitch after injury.
The midfielder's club statistics highlight why debate around selection exists, as Bellingham only contributed to 15 goals in 46 matches for Real Madrid in all competitions last season, with nine goals and six assists, compared with 23 goals and 13 assists in 2023-24 and 14 goals and 13 assists in 2024-25.
Bellingham also had a disrupted build-up because of injury, missing the early part of the season and starting only four of England's eight qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, while Morgan Rogers featured in every one of those matches alongside Kane and Declan Rice.
Against New Zealand, Tuchel gave Rogers the armband from kick-off before Bellingham replaced the forward at half-time and took over as captain, yet the numbers favoured Rogers in creativity, as Rogers created two chances while Bellingham did not fashion any openings for team-mates.
Jude Bellingham and England World Cup tactical approach
Bellingham did show accuracy on the ball in Tampa, completing all 32 of his passes, including 14 in the final third, but England still relied on Kane's first-half strike to secure the result in a game where sharpness was affected by some players only recently returning from holidays.
Tuchel stressed that internal competition is a positive force within the group and explained the mindset he wants from the squad, saying: I think the players want to impress and they want to impress me. That's why we selected this group. I feel they do it in a very complicit way. That's the spirit that we want to have and the spirit that we will need throughout the tournament. We don't want to have guys on the bench who are thinking, 'he is doing bad, so I may have a chance'. I don't think they play against each other, but they are happy to push each other. I think they can put it into perspective. They know that they haven't played together, some of them, since November. Some of them came from holidays, they have to restart the engines. Put it into perspectiveeverything is fine.
Jude Bellingham and England World Cup leadership picture
The match saw England use 22 players for the first time in any fixture since June 2004, when a 6-1 victory over Iceland closed their Euro 2004 preparations, and Tuchel has now recorded 10 wins from 13 games in charge, with only Glenn Hoddle reaching double figures faster with 12 matches.
Questions about leadership roles brought a brief answer regarding hierarchy, with Tuchel declining to spell out the wider leadership group while confirming Rice's position, stating: I never talk about the leadership group, he said. Declan is my vice-captain. We had this talk when Harry was not in camp with us.
Attention now turns to the final warm-up schedule, as England meet Costa Rica in the last public friendly on Wednesday before facing Miami United in a behind-closed-doors contest, giving Tuchel further chances to judge Bellingham and others ahead of deciding which of the 14 or 15 candidates start against Croatia.
