‘Immense’ Bellingham and Foden recalled by England
Thomas Tuchel also hands a first call-up to Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott, with England having already qualified for the World Cup.
England manager Thomas Tuchel says Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham and Manchester City’s Phil Foden have been “immense” for their clubs recently as he recalled the pair to his squad for next week’s World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania.
The German added that Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott “deserves” his first senior call-up, with England having already sealed their place at next summer’s tournament.
“They play regularly and play a big role in the success of Real Madrid and Manchester City,” said Tuchel on Bellingham and Foden. “They’ve scored decisive goals regularly. We are delighted they are in form and back with us.”
Tuchel has resisted calls to include Brighton striker Danny Welbeck in his latest squad while attacking midfielder Jack Grealish, who is on loan at Everton from Manchester City, and right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold miss out.
Alexander-Arnold’s Real Madrid team-mate Bellingham was left out of Tuchel’s squad for games in October, when the 22-year-old had just returned from shoulder surgery.
Manchester City playmaker Foden had not been selected in the past three England squads, with his last international appearance in March against Latvia.
Full England squad
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Newcastle Utd)
Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Manchester City)
Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Alex Scott (Bournemouth), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace)
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona, loan from Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Scott ‘performed his way’ to call-up
England qualified for the 2026 World Cup by thrashing Latvia last month and will host Serbia on Thursday, 13 November before travelling to Albania three days later in their final Group K game.
The two fixtures will be their final competitive outings prior to the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Scott, 22, was part of the England side that won the European Under-21 Championship in the summer.
He has featured in all 10 of Bournemouth’s Premier League matches this season, scoring once and helping them to fifth in the table.
“Alex deserves to be with us,” said Tuchel. “I first closely saw him in the Euros with the under-21s, where he did excellent together with Elliot Anderson in central midfield and played a huge part in the title win.
“Since then, he stepped really up and is a regular starter for Bournemouth, who are overperforming constantly in the league.
“I think he came a long way and he performed his way into this nomination – he will come as a number eight and hopefully he can prove us right, and show us his talent and personality.”
Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope, Manchester City defender Nico O’Reilly and Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton are the other players back in the squad.
The players dropped from the last international break are Morgan Gibbs-White, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, James Trafford and Ollie Watkins.
‘I don’t see him as a winger any more’
The return of Bellingham and Foden follows their high-profile omissions for England’s games in October.
Bellingham was left out having made just one start following his shoulder operation, and despite Tuchel saying the midfielder wanted to be included in the squad.
At the time, the England boss also said he had “no problem” with Bellingham, having apologised in August for “unintentionally” describing the player’s on-field behaviour as “repulsive”.
Since his return to action, Bellingham has been a regular for Real Madrid and scored three goals in his past four games.
“Jude comes back as a number 10. That’s his best position. One of his key strengths is to score from this position,” said Tuchel.
“He has the ability to arrive and score goals that a number nine would score, which is very unusual. It might seem like easy goals, but to arrive in these positions is one of his outstanding qualities.
“We will try to find space for him in the number 10 position to arrive and score these goals.”
Foden, meanwhile, has been recalled on the back of two goals in a 4-1 win against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Wednesday.
“Where Phil played against Borussia Dortmund is where I see him the strongest,” said Tuchel. “He is close to the opponent’s box and a mix between a number nine and a 10.
“Phil scores and assists more from the 18-yard box, where he scored against Dortmund. He’s in the pockets and assists.
“The main thing about him is that he gets a role in the central part of the pitch. I don’t see him as a winger any more. He should have a central role that will bring out his strengths most. We’ve talked about this already with him.”
Could Tuchel extend his England contract?
Tuchel took over from Gareth Southgate as England manager and took on the role in January 2025 on an 18-month contract.
Asked if there was a part of him that wanted to stay in the role beyond the 2026 World Cup, Tuchel said: “Yes, there is.
“It’s a lot of fun, especially since we are on track in the last two camps, but it was from the start.
“There’s nothing to announce at the moment. I am very happy with the way things are going and I think the federation is quite happy with the way things are, but that is just today.
“I have to prove myself again from Monday with the team and the rest will take care of itself. The most important thing is to stay focused for the next camp.
“I am in a good place mentally because I love the team, the support from the federation and the direction where it is heading. That’s the main focus.
“I haven’t thought so much about my contract, but we have time for that.”
