Having already booked their tickets to the United States, Canada and Mexico next summer, England will wrap up a very successful World Cup qualifying campaign with dead-rubber fixtures against Serbia and Albania in the coming days – but for certain members of Thomas Tuchel's squad the games will be far from meaningless, with everything on the line as the clock ticks down.
The Three Lions have just four more matches to play before Tuchel announces his provisional travelling party in May, so there is incredibly limited time to make an impression on the head coach up close and personal. After the final qualifiers, England will play two friendlies in March. Then, it's decision time for their German tactician.
His latest squad was once again difficult to predict; there is the potential for more senior debuts and recalls for both Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden, while other big names like Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jack Grealish continue to be overlooked as their hopes of making the final cut fade.
Even for certain players who have been included in the November camp, the pressure is on, with Tuchel admitting he has "a settled mind" when it comes to those who will be on the plane come June: "I will also be open because I know anything can happen. I need to make sure the door is always open and they are on their toes and they have a chance to be with us."
With that in mind, here are the eight England players most under pressure to deliver in the Three Lions' final World Cup qualifiers…
GettyJude Bellingham
Bellingham was made to sweat, but he is back for the November camp after returning to form and fitness at Real Madrid. In truth, omitting him would have been an astounding decision after he was overlooked in October, not long after his return from shoulder surgery, with Tuchel this time unable to point to the need for him to get back into his groove at club level and potentially generating some serious scrutiny over what has been going on behind the scenes.
As it is, the midfield dynamo has been recalled, but he will certainly feel he has a point to prove amid question marks over whether his fiery on-pitch demeanour is actually to the detriment of the team, and with Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers making a play for his starting place in recent matches. How that desire to stake his claim manifests itself will be highly intriguing, as Bellingham finds himself joining up with an otherwise-settled squad for the first time since Tuchel was forced to apologise to him for revealing that his own mother sometimes finds the midfielder's antics "repulsive" in the summer.
The manager has spoken about harnessing the "edge" the 22-year-old brings: "There is no problem with him, there is no problem with the character. Jude just has the edge, it is a very good thing because you need a certain edge to reach the heights that he reached and I think we all need to help him and encourage him and create an environment which he can live this edge towards the opponents and towards the goals we are building as a team."
AdvertisementGetty Images SportTrevoh Chalobah
A late call-up for England's final World Cup qualifiers after Marc Guehi was left unable to walk following a heavy blow in Crystal Palace's Conference League clash against AZ Alkmaar, Chalobah will be acutely aware that he already faces an uphill battle to guarantee a place in England's travelling party to North America, let alone a starting place.
Tuchel has handed him his senior debut at both club and international level, but the 26-year-old hadn't been included in a Three Lions squad since the June camp, when Chalobah collected his one and only cap to date in a dire 3-1 friendly defeat to Senegal at Nottingham Forest's City Ground – a game in which he didn't cover himself in glory as he started and played the full 90 minutes.
Chalobah, though, continues to be a regular starter for Chelsea this season under Enzo Maresca, and while his performances have been inconsistent, he will want to seize this second chance that has been provided to him by Guehi's injury. With the Palace man arguably the only nailed-on starter at the World Cup, there is plenty of scope for other centre-backs to assert themselves. This could well be Chalobah's last chance to do so.
GettyPhil Foden
Judging by Tuchel's recent selection calls, Foden is well and truly in the last chance saloon as the World Cup looms large on the horizon. This is the Manchester City man's first call-up since the head coach began work in earnest back in March, as he was overlooked in June and October, either side of an injury that kept him out in September.
While he would be the first to admit that he still isn't back to his best, Foden seems to have overcome the physical and mental issues that took such a toll on him last season, revealing that he is 'playing with a smile on his face' again and producing a particularly impressive individual performance against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League recently. However, an inability to deliver for England has long been his kryptonite, and the coach's decision to omit him previously suggests the 25-year-old is under serious pressure to prove himself in the colours of his national team.
Interestingly, Tuchel has now insisted that he won't use Foden as a winger like his predecessor Gareth Southgate did, meaning he faces some serious competition from the likes of Bellingham, Rogers, Eberechi Eze, Cole Palmer and Morgan Gibbs-White for the attacking midfield berth.
"It does not make sense to tell, for example, 'Phil…there's no space in your best position, can you play left wing for us? Can you play right wing for us?' I think that does not work," the manager said. "For this camp, Phil will be in the number 9-10ish position, in the middle of the pitch. Because I have this fantasy about him since a long time. I think it suits him the most."
AFPNico O'Reilly
Nico O'Reilly certainly won't be fazed by the challenge of nailing down a place in Tuchel's squad, having made smooth progress to become a first-team regular at Man City aged just 20, under the revered Pep Guardiola, no less. However, that doesn't mean there isn't plenty at stake as he effectively looks to keep Arsenal's Myles Lewis-Skelly out of the squad.
The left-back, who is nominally a midfielder, was included in the squad for the games against Wales and Latvia in October but didn't make it off the bench. This time, though, O'Reilly will expect to get an opportunity with nothing riding on the final qualifiers against Serbia and Albania, especially with Lewis-Skelly being dropped as the teenager pays the price for a lack of minutes at club level.
Indeed, the battle to be one of the left-backs included in the World Cup squad will seemingly come down to club game time, with Tottenham's Djed Spence looking likely to be involved. O'Reilly is currently a regular starter for City and that seems unlikely to change as he keeps fit-again Rayan Ait-Nouri out of the team, while his chances are boosted because the Algerian will soon jet off for the Africa Cup of Nations.
