Real Madrid and England midfielder Jude Bellingham is poised to break a national team record set by Wayne Rooney when the Three Lions face Albania in their opening World Cup 2026 qualifier.
Thomas Tuchel oversees his first match as England head coach at Wembley on Friday evening, where he will be bidding to follow in the footsteps of several of his predecessors.
Each of England’s last 10 permanent managers has won their opening game in charge of the 1966 World Cup winners; the last head coach to fail to do so was Sir Bobby Robson back in 1982.
The Three Lions will be the overwhelming favourites to get the job done against Albania with minimal fuss, and Bellingham will be expected to play a major role in England’s bid for both World Cup qualification and stardom under Tuchel.
The former Birmingham City and Borussia Dortmund starlet prepares to don the England colours again amid another strong domestic campaign for Real Madrid, scoring 11 goals and providing the same number of assists in 38 appearances.
Bellingham set to win 41st England cap against Albania
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Bellingham has also contributed six goals and six assists from his first 40 appearances for England, and the midfielder is now set to break the men’s record for the most caps won before the age of 22.
Bellingham’s 40 is as many as Wayne Rooney won for the Three Lions while aged 21 or under, but the Real Madrid phenom will overtake the former Manchester United star and set a new record should he make an appearance on Friday.
The 21-year-old had to wait until his 17th appearance for England to register his first goal contribution, but he has since provided a praiseworthy five goals and five assists across his last 15 England appearances.
In fact, Bellingham’s 12 direct goal contributions for England – excluding penalties won – is the third most of any Three Lions player since his debut in November 2020, only behind Harry Kane‘s 45 and Bukayo Saka‘s 15.
The 2003-born lynchpin set up Jarrod Bowen and Taylor Harwood-Bellis‘s efforts in November’s 5-0 UEFA Nations League thrashing of the Republic of Ireland, while also winning the spot kick for Kane to convert for the opening goal.
Where will Bellingham fit into Tuchel’s system?
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Before Tuchel’s first team sheet is released, fans will continue to guess where Bellingham and the rest of England’s 26-man squad currently being put through their paces at St George’s Park will fit into the German’s system.
While Tuchel has deployed three-man and four-man defences successfully, the ex-Chelsea boss should side with the 4-2-3-1 shape he predominantly used at Bayern Munich, at least while England are facing opponents whom they will be expected to dominate.
Bellingham would therefore be a natural fit for the number 10 role in that shape, although he could also act as the number eight in a double pivot with Declan Rice given Tuchel’s embarrassment of riches further forward.
Curtis Jones, Eberechi Eze, Morgan Gibbs-White, Phil Foden and Morgan Rogers are all capable of functioning as the most advanced midfielder, but Tuchel does not possess as many natural number sixes or number eights.
The Bellingham-Rice partnership would represent an extremely physical and athletic midfield, but given Tuchel’s unwavering faith in Jordan Henderson, do not be entirely surprised to see the Ajax veteran make a shock start too.
The engine room dilemma is one of three key decisions that Tuchel is facing for his first game on Friday night, after which England square up to Latvia at Wembley next Monday evening.
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