While Jude “Diva” Bellingham draws the eye of the England fans and the ire of England’s head coach, an idea dismissed as an impossibility by Thomas Tuchel quietly gathers force.
Bellingham’s return to the England camp for the final World Cup qualifying fixtures focused the attention, and evinced from Tuchel the view that the mighty Madridista and fellow October exile Phil Foden could never form an attacking troika with skipper Harry Kane in his World Cup vision.
Tuchel said he saw Foden as a quasi No 9/10, occupying a central role but not alongside Kane and Bellingham, leaving observers to infer a secondary role as impact sub. Against Serbia he was exactly that, replacing Kane after 65 minutes and providing the assist for Eberechi Eze’s late clincher after a thrilling link with Bellingham.
Foden was again a substitute in Albania but when he did appear shortly after the hour mark, it was not at Kane’s expense but that of Declan Rice. In that late cameo, full of energy and invention, Foden offered a glimpse of a different England, one that debunks Tuchel’s original thinking and prompts a reconsideration of Rice’s centrality to the England project.
After Kane, Rice is arguably the first name on the teamsheet, gathering up as he does the quintessential elements traditionally associated with an English midfielder, indefatigable, racing about the pitch launching attacks with lung-bursting runs, throwing himself in harm’s way to snuff out threats.
Soccer Football - World Cup - UEFA Qualifiers - Group K - Albania v England - Air Albania Stadium, Tirana, Albania - November 16, 2025 England's Phil Foden reacts Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra
Tuchel has to rethink his system to get Foden in (Photo: Reuters)
Arsenal paid more than £100m for him in their bid to win a first Premier League title since 2004. He offers a reassuring balance of dependability and commitment, big match temperament and moments of real quality, exemplified by the two free-kicks curled past Real Madrid in last season’s Champions League victory at the Emirates.
But in the advanced role he has been given he does not have the same precision as Foden in the final third where touch, movement and spatial awareness are central to cracking open good teams.
If Tuchel is to break England men’s hoodoo at major tournaments stretching back six decades, his team has to throw opponents off the scent. Kane was exceptional against Albania, dropping deep, pulling the defence out of shape, taking the ball and finding the pass. Bellingham showed the disruptive value of running with the ball and taking a man on, attributes that are so hard to defend against.
Rice is reliant on energy and fearless commitment, a dynamic running through the history of English football, and, I would argue, at its expense. Investment in the characteristics exhibited by Rice and distrust of the kind of vision and technique inherent in Foden is a tension that partly explains England’s failure to add to the World Cup success of 1966.
The catalogue of “flair” players overlooked in favour of dependable sorts who “won’t let you down” constitutes a heartbreaking inventory. Chelsea and Sheffield United stylists Alan Hudson and Tony Currie respectively won just 19 caps between them half a century ago.
Hip-bending Duncan McKenzie of Leeds United and Everton made plenty of squads but was never handed a debut. Leeds’ combative midfielder David Batty won 42 caps whilst arguably England’s finest technician Glenn Hoddle claimed a criminally low 53.
Rice will run all day for England but he won’t pick a lock like Foden, nor does he offer the same goal threat. Foden excelled in his brief cameo against Albania bringing to the piece the same urgency in the No 8 role that he has brought to Manchester City this season.
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His ability to take the ball on the half-turn and drive at teams through the centre off his favoured left foot or hit a raking pass are other points of difference. Were Tuchel picking his first World Cup team today, Rice would understandably feature as one of his preferred starters.
Yet the team make-up at the beginning of major competitions is rarely intact at the close. Certainties are frequently undermined by injuries and shifts in form, perspectives change rapidly.
Tuchel has already shown a willingness to alter course with surprise selections. Perhaps Kane, Bellingham and Foden, who played 22 minutes together in Tirana, is a more viable a trident than Tuchel originally thought.
Foden is a player reborn at the heart of City’s resurgent Premier League challenge to Arsenal. It could be he is coming for Rice on more than one front.