Bellingham trialled as England's No.9 while Tuchel raises concerns over new World Cup referee rules

Jude Bellingham could line up as England’s No.9 at the World Cup after Thomas Tuchel trialled the Real Madrid midfielder in the role during England’s pre-tournament friendly against Costa Rica in Orlando.

Harry Kane remains Tuchel’s first-choice centre-forward, but the England manager is weighing a formation that would allow Bellingham to operate in a free attacking role alongside Morgan Rogers. The experiment opens the door for Tuchel to field both players simultaneously — either when Kane needs rest or if circumstances demand a different shape.

“Maybe we’ll see it in the tournament,” Tuchel said. “Jude can play as the number nine almost like in a free role, come into midfield, drop into half spaces, start more dribbling, Harry then starts more assisting. Jude has the personality to score, to be decisive and to arrive in the box so it is an option to play with him and Morgan Rogers. I wanted to see that for a few minutes at least. Ollie Watkins was also good, Ivan Toney was good against New Zealand and trains at a high level so it’s good. I have some options.”

Tuchel also addressed a penalty incident during the Costa Rica match, confirming that Bellingham had intended to take the spot-kick before Anthony Gordon stepped up and converted. The confusion arose from the volume of substitutions made, which obscured the designated order of takers. “Anthony Gordon was on the list as second penalty taker but because of all the changes it was not so clear,” Tuchel explained. “It was our responsibility to make it clearer so it took a while, but Anthony is the taker and he took it.”

Beyond tactics, Tuchel raised concerns about new refereeing directives that FIFA has issued ahead of the tournament. Officials have been instructed to clamp down on time-wasting, apply additional VAR checks on corners and second yellow cards, and enforce stricter rules on grappling at set-pieces. England’s friendly against Uruguay in March was reportedly used as a reference example for referees when demonstrating when a goal should be disallowed for pushing at set-pieces — a detail that has not gone unnoticed by Tuchel.

“They spoke to us. They clarified. A lot of ifs and buts, a lot of things to decide for VAR and the referee,” Tuchel said. “It doesn’t matter if I’m happy or not, we’ll play according to the rules. I’m just saying, it’s more to take care of for the referee and it’s already a lot — the game gets more and more intense. Hopefully they find the consistent way of refereeing.”

England have since flown to Kansas City, where they will be based for the duration of the World Cup.