Tuchel benches fit-again Saka for England's World Cup opener against Croatia

Thomas Tuchel has made four significant selection calls for England’s World Cup opener against Croatia at Dallas Stadium in Arlington, most notably benching a fully fit Bukayo Saka in favour of Arsenal teammate Noni Madueke on the right wing.

Saka had recovered from an injury niggle and publicly stated he was “ready to go” ahead of the match, making Tuchel’s decision one of the more striking calls of the tournament’s opening round. The England head coach explained his reasoning before kick-off, insisting the choice was about squad depth rather than any doubt over Saka’s fitness.

“Bukayo Saka yesterday had an incredible training session and deserved to start,” Tuchel said, “but we will not start and finish this match with 11 players. We need a strong bench and we have players who can influence and change matches from the bench — that’s very important.”

Tuchel has otherwise named the same starting XI that began the warm-up victory over Costa Rica. Anthony Gordon is preferred to Marcus Rashford on the left wing, while John Stones partners Ezri Konsa in central defence, leaving Marc Guehi among the substitutes.

The fourth major call was handing Jude Bellingham the No.10 role ahead of Morgan Rogers, a decision that had generated considerable debate throughout England’s pre-tournament camp. Tuchel acknowledged it was far from straightforward.

“Very close,” he admitted. “In the end we stick with the team that started so well against Costa Rica. Both of them deserved to start and we will have these kind of decisions.”

When pressed on whether Bellingham’s prior major tournament experience — including his standout Euro 2024 campaign — gave him the edge, Tuchel was careful not to frame it that way. “No, to be proven in tournaments didn’t play a role because you can turn around and say Morgan is free from any experience and ready to go, which he is. No, it was a 50/50 call and the decision goes to Jude.”

Bellingham arrives at the tournament having endured a difficult club season at Real Madrid, but Tuchel said the midfielder looked sharp in training. “He looked sharp and happy to be on the pitch,” the England boss said.

On the significance of finally getting the World Cup campaign under way, Tuchel was unambiguous: “Amazing — it’s what we worked for and that was the goal of the whole prep camp, to be ready. We don’t want to be anywhere else in the world than here.”