Why Chelsea’s Tuchel Shockingly Excluded Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham from England Squad: The Untold Reason Revealed

England face a crucial World Cup qualifier during the October international break, one that could secure their place in the 2026 tournament. Despite the importance of the upcoming challenge, Thomas Tuchel chose not to include Jude Bellingham, one of the team’s top stars.

In Friday’s press conference, the head coach spoke about the Real Madrid midfielder. “He wanted to be called up. We had a phone call,” Tuchel admitted, according to the BBC. “But we decided to keep with the straightforward decision of inviting the same group… There is also the situation that he has not quite gathered his full rhythm again at Real Madrid – he has not finished a full match.”

In this way, the German coach confirmed that Bellingham wanted to be part of the squad, but the decision not to include him was based on several factors. The main one, clearly, is the player’s physical condition, as he underwent surgery following the FIFA Club World Cup to address a shoulder injury.

Since then, Jude has played just four matches with Real Madrid. In three of them, he came off the bench, and he started only in the derby against Atletico Madrid, where he was subbed off in the 70th minute after a disappointing performance. So far in the 2025–26 season, he has played just 100 minutes in total.