Thomas Tuchel admits Jude Bellingham must earn England World Cup starting spot

[p]The 22-year-old featured in just ‌four of England's qualifying matches, while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/aston-villa/W00wmLO0/"]Aston Villa's[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rogers-morgan/lp4jm80n/"]Morgan ‌Rogers[/a] appeared in all eight, underlining the selection dilemma facing ‌Tuchel in the number 10 role.[/p][p]Asked if [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bellingham-jude/QNvlPm7s/"]Bellingham[/a] had ‌a fight to make the starting lineup, Tuchel was unequivocal.[/p][p][b]"Yes, he has,"[/b] Tuchel told reporters. [b]"He knows he is one of the ‌starters, but we have 14 or 15 ⁠potential starters.[/b][/p][p]"These roles can ‌always change, but at the moment I think there are 14 ​or 15 proper starters and Jude is one of them," he added.[/p][embed guid="4f58026e-2205-40ec-825c-d3412bdebc32" url="https://x.com/England/status/2063592810364706933" social-type="twitter" /][p]England are preparing for their ​World Cup campaign in Florida, where they opened their warm-up schedule with a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/england-j9N9ZNFA/new-zealand-rLctHkpU/?mid=hpJGkndD"]1-0 victory[/a] over New Zealand in ⁠Tampa on Saturday. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kane-harry/v5HSlEAa/"]​Harry Kane[/a] scored the only goal.[/p][p]Bellingham captained the side for the first time during the second half of that game, with Tuchel rotating his lineup in the hot and ‌humid conditions.[/p][p]Despite the competition for places, Tuchel said he had been encouraged by Bellingham's recent form following injury.[/p][p][b]"He looks good in training,"[/b] the German said. [b]"I think he is at the moment in a sweet spot because he has had his break and has the hunger to be back on the pitch."[/b][/p][p]Tuchel has emphasised squad depth and flexibility ahead of the tournament, indicating that several players are ‌capable of starting while others may be used to ​impact matches from the bench.[/p][p]Tuchel would not confirm whether ‌Bellingham is part of his leadership group, but said on Sunday that midfielder [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rice-declan/zkQ8Cm6n/"]Declan Rice[/a] will serve as England's vice-captain during the World Cup.[/p][p]England face Costa Rica in a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/costa-rica-C4ePE2kq/england-j9N9ZNFA/?mid=KjB2DklK"]friendly on Wednesday[/a] before kicking off ⁠their World Cup campaign ⁠against Croatia on June ‌17 in Dallas.[/p]