The German guided the Three Lions to World Cup qualification on Tuesday

• Last Update: October 15, 2025 09:22:49 pm BST • 3 min read

Thomas Tuchel to hold talks with ‘important’ Jude Bellingham and other players before next camp

Thomas Tuchel has said will reach out to Jude Bellingham as well as other ­players excluded from his latest England squad before he making his next ­selection in November.

The Three Lions became the first, and so far only, nation from Europe to secure their place at next summer’s World Cup with a convincing 5-0 victory over Latvia in Riga on Tuesday.

The win made it six wins from six qualifying matches for Tuchel’s side, who are yet to concede a goal in a competitive game under the German.

The most recent result came in the absence of Bellingham and several other high-profile players, such as Trent Alexander-Arnold, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer.

When asked if he would speak to the Real Madrid midfielder before the next camp, Tuchel said: “I guess so, why not? Of course, he’s [Bellingham] an important player, he’s a big player.

“I will speak to a lot of players. To the guys who were not in camp, they will get texts from me – especially them. The guys who are now here have the reward, they feel the reward and it’s now necessary also I stay in touch with the other guys.”

Tuchel reiterated that exclusion from his squad should not be seen as punishment, instead insisting competition for places was a vital component of his tenure.

“No one has done anything wrong, it’s not a punishment or whatever, and I feel when I text them or I speak to them everyone is eager to come back,” Tuchel said.

“This is how it has to be and I have trust in more players than [those] here. We always speak about the same names [outside the squad] but we have Conor Gallagher, we have Trevoh Chalobah, we have Cole Palmer injured and a lot of other guys out there who deserve to be with us and are hungry and determined to be with us.”

The England boss largely played down his side’s chances at going all the way next summer, but believes the team is moving in the right direction.

“It’s a possibility, yes,” he said of winning the World Cup.

“We will get there. I cannot promise that we will win it but I feel that we will get there with a strong team, a strong cohesion and the right spirit. It’s building. You can see it on the pitch. This is the basis for all of it.

“We will start analysing the favourites very early. There’s a huge amount of support in the FA, everybody is on that, there’s a machine running behind it. We will analyse right now Brazil, Argentina, Spain, France, Portugal.

“It’s a special feeling to qualify. You don’t qualify every day for a World Cup. It’s all our childhood dream to be part of that and I cannot be more proud to arrive as an England coach.

“I was a bit more nervous than normal before the Latvia game because I really wanted to get it over the line. It’s such a good feeling around the last two camps and it’s just nice to have the proof.”

England play Serbia and Albania in their final two qualifying group games in November.