Thomas Tuchel to hold talks with Jude Bellingham after England squad snub as Three Lions boss lays out 'non-negotiables' for overlooked big-name stars

England v Latvia - European Qualifiers Group K - FIFA World Cup 2026

England boss Thomas Tuchel has revealed that he will speak to Jude Bellingham after overlooking the Real Madrid star for his latest Three Lions squad. Tuchel faced a lot of criticism last month when he announced his group for the October international break as big stars like Phil Foden and Jack Grealish were also missing. However, despite their absence, England confirmed their place at the 2026 World Cup with relative ease.

Bellingham missed October matches for England

Bellingham was supposed to remain sidelined until the end of October after he underwent surgery on his long-standing shoulder injury in August. However, the midfielder returned to action ahead of schedule and featured for Real Madrid in La Liga in September. However, once Tuchel announced the latest England squad Bellingham's name was missing, alongside Grealish, who has returned to form since moving to Everton on loan from Manchester City in the summer. City star Foden was also overlooked as Marcus Rashford made the squad after getting back to something like his best at Barcelona.

The absence of the big names did not hurt England too much as they kicked off the international break with a 3-0 win over Wales in a friendly, followed by a 5-0 victory over Latvia, which secured their berth at the World Cup next year. 

Tuchel to hold talks with Bellingham

After the triumph over Latvia, Three Lions boss Tuchel told reporters that he will have a chat with Bellingham between now and the November international break. The German coach said: "I guess so. Why not? Of course, he's an important player, he's a big player. I will speak to a lot of players, also to the guys that will get a text from me, who were not in camp, especially them. Because these guys who are now here they have the reward and they feel the reward. And it's now necessary also that I stay in touch with the other guys.

"No-one has done anything wrong. It's not a punishment or whatever and I feel when I text them and I speak to them, that everyone is eager to come back and this is how it has to be. So there are a lot of guys out there who would deserve to be with us."

'Non-negotiables' laid out for big names

Tuchel further clarified that he has no problem with any of the players who missed out on the squad for the October games, but he has laid out certain expectations which are 'non-negotiables'.

The former Chelsea boss added: "I don't doubt, if we invite them, then we are sure that they will buy in. Otherwise, we will not invite them. Why would we? This is a non-negotiable. I trust in more players than [are] here. We always speak about the same names, but we have Conor Gallagher, we have Trevoh Chalobah and we have Cole Palmer injured."

Tuchel's clash with England fans ended on a happy note

One of the highlights of the October international break was the momentary clash between Tuchel and the England faithful. It all started after the Wales clash, which England comfortably won at Wembley. However, Tuchel was unhappy with the support of the fans on home soil as he took aim at the 'silent' crowd at Wembley after the game. He further claimed that those watching on could have done more to motivate his side.

The criticism seemingly irked the travelling support in Latvia and a section of them, who had made the journey to Riga for the World Cup qualifier, gave it back to Tuchel with some cheeky chants. At the Daugava Stadium, the away fans first chanted: "We'll sing when we want, we'll sing when we want, Thomas Tuchel, we'll sing when we want!" They also jokingly sang: "Are we loud enough for you?" The fans also came up with an X-rated chant, as they sang: "Our support is f*cking sh*t!"

The England head coach admitted after the match that he saw the funny side of the chants hurled at him. The Three Lions will be back in action in November as they take on Serbia and Albania in their final two World Cup qualifying games.