The England team has many attacking talents heading into the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and one of their elite players is Jude Bellingham. The youngster has been quite sensational in every jersey he has donned, for both club and country. However, manager Thomas Tuchel said that despite his gifted skills, he still has to compete with others to earn his spot in the team. “Of course, he needs to compete. He is one of the starting candidates, and he knows that himself. But we have 14 to 15 players in our team who are capable of starting,” Tuchel said. “There are also different groups within the team, such as special groups and leadership groups. There are also some players who will play a role in the later stages of the game, they need to bring the right energy to the team, and also set standards in general, accept their roles, and remain competitive,” he furthed added. “These roles can change at any time. But in my mind, we have 14 to 15 players who are truly capable of starting, and Jude is one of them,” he concluded on the matter. Battling heat With matches set to be played across the United States, Canada and Mexico, managing heat, humidity and altitude has become a major part of tournament planning. England have responded by putting together detailed acclimatisation programmes, including a 10-day training camp in Miami to help players adjust to the conditions before the competition begins. Tuchel said extensive work had already gone into understanding how players could adapt to the challenging conditions expected during the tournament.Story continues below this ad “We are not used to being in this kind of heat and humidity, and even altitude if we play in Mexico. There will be a lot of challenges in this World Cup. The heat is one of them, but we are prepared already. “We know the individual reaction of the players to the heat, and we have cooling strategies in place. We’ve had help from Team GB and specialists all over the world to come up with solutions that help the players to adapt,” Tuchel told Sky Sports.
Why does Thomas Tuchel think Jude Bellingham is not a starter at FIFA World Cup
