England Senior National Team General Discussion Thread

Jude is more than likely not going to be on the bench either.

 

Who at 22 years old is going to turn round to the National coach and demand that they start every game or threaten to not turn up for your National team? I can get it if your too long in the tooth for various reasons but not a 22 year old! No chance Bellingham will be demanding such things.

 

Ollie Watkins has been ruled out of England’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Latvia.

The Aston Villa striker has not recovered from the knock sustained against Wales at Wembley on Thursday evening and has returned to his club.

A squad of 22 will travel to Riga.

We better hope Kane is fully fit.

 

Why? It's Latvia - they're rubbish. If we can't beat them with Rashford or Bowen as a centre forward then we might as well give up.

 

Good to have you with us, @DScarlett09! 👋#YoungLions forward Dane Scarlett joins the #ThreeLions for this morning's session at @SpursOfficial. pic.twitter.com/89HZTC17ci

— England (@England) October 13, 2025

Barcelona are ready to take up the option to make 27-year-old forward Marcus Rashford's loan move from Manchester United a permanent one following his impressive early season form. (Sun)

The England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is set to sign a new contract at Everton before their return to Premier League action next weekend against Manchester City. (The Times)

Steve Parish is prepared to dig his heels in to keep "extraordinary talent" Adam Wharton at Crystal Palace. But the Eagles co-owner and chairman accepts he faces a difficult challenge to do that as the 21-year-old midfielder wants to play Champions League football in the next few years. (The Sun)

Harry Kane should be fit to fire England into the World Cup. The Three Lions can qualify for the finals next summer if they win in Latvia on Tuesday, thanks to Serbia's shock 1-0 loss at home to Albania on Saturday. (The Sun)

England legend Sir Geoff Hurst has told superstar Jude Bellingham's dad to calm down. (The Sun)

 

Meantime Bellinghams Dad.

 

What squad was Scarlett named in?

 

He wasn't, he's back fit after some fitness issues in preseason, and England are training at Hotspur Way.

 

🗣️ "You don't want to fight with him. You don't want to make him angry on the pitch." 😤

Thomas Tuchel on Elliot Anderson 💪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿#ITVFootball | #ThreeLions | #NFFC pic.twitter.com/8L28PXuu8C

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) October 13, 2025

 

Anderson,Rice and Bellingham is a very physical midfield.

 

In light of the Bellingham debate, it's interesting to note that being called 'humble' seems to be the greatest accolade Tuchel can give when he's describing a player. He's used it 3 or 4 times recently

 

Latvia coach Paolo Nicolato apparently reads this thread:

He told BBC Sport: "England will 100% be among the favourites. They are a big team with a coach with big experience. They have a lot of history and a lot of good players. They could put five international teams on the pitch with the players they have. They also have the best league in the world at this moment."

 

I sent him an email with our picks

 

I wondered if you had something to do with it as further down the article he accuses those pesky Estonians of stealing their talents. I thought it was a bit random at the time but makes sense now.

 

I warned him to watch your neighbours from stealing players

 

🇱🇻 Thomas Tuchel when told by a Latvian reporter that Jordan Henderson lost here at the Daugava Stadium with Ajax last season...

🗣️ "OK, I did not know that, he will not be in the team tomorrow! He did not tell me that... hopefully we get a better result than Jordan Henderson!" pic.twitter.com/qVjwR3QGHj

— Craig Hope (@CraigHope_DM) October 13, 2025

Lol.

 

Tuchel suggesting players have been left for behaviour there?

‘England manager Thomas Tuchel on what the players not in the squad should be feeling: "The hunger to come back. The door is always open. We will always have trouble choosing. For a football nation like England we have a pool of talented players and we have to make a selection. So the ones in camp should feel first of all privileged but they should also feel the hunger to keep the shirt.

"The ones who are not with us should also have the hunger to be with us when the next opportunity is and this is always through behaviour, through performance. The door is always open."’

 

He's not saying that. What he means is that they should have the right attitude playing for their clubs before being in contention for next call up

 

How did you reach that conclusion? I'm genuinely curious.

 

So if we win tomorrow we will become outright the first European team to qualify or possibly do it jointly with Portugal.

 

Some articles about futher stuff Tuchel has said tonight.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...Bellingham-England-World-Cup-Real-Madrid.html
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cze65j7nzr8o

 

The Times meanwhile predicts.
Latvia (5-3-1-1) Zviedris; Savalnieks, Balodis, Cernomordijs, Jurkovskis, Ciganiks; Varslavans, Zelenkovs, Saveljevs; Ikaunieks; Gutkovskis
England (4-2-3-1) Pickford; Konsa, Stones, Guéhi, Lewis-Skelly; Anderson, Rice; Saka, Rogers, Gordon; Kane