England: Thomas Tuchel explains Jude Bellingham's omission from the squad

World Cup 2026 03 October 2025 at 10:07

Joshua SOSSOU

News Editor

Announcing his squad this Friday, Thomas Tuchel has left out Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham. He explained his decision.

Jude Bellingham returned from injury in mid-September. However, he has not been called up by Thomas Tuchel for the upcoming England national team camp. The Three Lions manager believes the Real Madrid midfielder is lacking match fitness.

"He is a very special player, and for special players, there are special rules. But for this camp, we decided to stick with our decision to invite the same squad as the last call-up. He absolutely deserves to be here. But the fact remains that he hasn't quite found his rhythm with Real Madrid yet. He hasn't completed a full match, and so far, he has only started one. He needs to get back to his best form. We spoke on the phone. There are no issues there; he's just lacking match fitness," the manager explained at the press conference.