Neville insists Bellingham must start as Carragher warns England will find World Cup tough

Gary Neville has come out firmly in favour of Jude Bellingham starting England’s World Cup group opener against Croatia in Dallas on June 17, insisting the Real Madrid midfielder is too important to begin on the bench — while Jamie Carragher has warned that England could have a difficult tournament under Thomas Tuchel.

The debate over England’s number 10 position has intensified after Tuchel opted to start Aston Villa forward Morgan Rogers in Saturday’s 1-0 friendly win over New Zealand, with Bellingham impressing only after coming off the bench. For Neville, however, the decision is straightforward.

“I love Morgan Rogers — love him. But, let’s be clear, Jude Bellingham is not a sub. He’s not a sub. He’s not a sub; he’s a star. That’s it. He’s a star,” Neville told the Telegraph.

Carragher takes a starkly different view. The former Liverpool defender believes Tuchel has already demonstrated a willingness to leave Bellingham out — the England manager dropped him from a couple of squads earlier in his tenure — and expects that pattern to continue into the tournament itself.

“I think Tuchel’s strong enough and has shown already how he’s dealt with Jude Bellingham — he’s left him out of a couple of squads,” Carragher said. “There’s been things said. There’s obviously a relationship to be worked on from both parties there, but I don’t see a situation, unless Morgan Rogers gets injured in the warmup games, where Jude Bellingham starts the first game.”

Tuchel himself has offered little clarity, describing Bellingham as one of 14 or 15 players competing for starting spots. “He is one of the starters, he knows he is one of the starters, but we have 14 or 15 potential starters,” the England head coach said. “These roles can always change, but at the moment I think there are like 14 or 15 proper starters and Jude is one of them.”

Beyond the Bellingham question, Carragher expressed broader concern about England’s prospects at the tournament. After facing Croatia, the Three Lions meet Panama and Ghana in the group stage before what Carragher views as a daunting knockout path.

He also suggested that former manager Gareth Southgate — who guided England to a World Cup semi-final and two European Championship finals — will be reassessed more favourably in the years ahead. “I think England will find it tough in this tournament, if I’m being totally honest,” Carragher said. “You look at the squad that’s been picked and there’s a lot of good players in there, but I class a lot of them as good Premier League players. I don’t look at all of them and think, that’s an international player.”

England face Costa Rica in a final warm-up friendly on Wednesday before their World Cup campaign begins against Croatia.