Jude Bellingham vs Morgan Rogers, Brazil's No.9 and the biggest 2026 World Cup selection debates

Thomas Tuchel has a handful of calls to make before naming his England team to face Croatia in their Group L opener, but by far the most intriguing is the battle between Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers to start as the most attacking of the Three Lions' midfield behind Harry Kane.

Bellingham is, alongside Kane, the most recognisable face within this England team, but after an underwhelming club season at Real Madrid and with question marks over his relationship with Tuchel, the 22-year-old is at risk of beginning the tournament on the bench.

Instead, Tuchel could yet opt to go with Rogers alongside Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson. The Aston Villa star is coming off a superb campaign in which he scored 14 goals - many of which were spectacular, long-range efforts - and provided 11 assists for the Europa League winners.

Rogers impressed for England in qualifying while Bellingham was recovering from shoulder surgery, while of the two games since the start of the season where both have been available, each player has been named to the line up once.

Of the two, Bellingham produced the more eye-catching performance in Saturday's win over New Zealand as Tuchel ensured every member of his squad was given 45 minutes to build their fitness levels. Wednesday's meeting with Costa Rica will likely offer more clues to the German's thinking.

In terms of the decision Luis de la Fuente will make, the identity of Spain's starting goalkeeper for the World Cup seems to be locked up. Even among fans of La Roja, there is not all that much debate. But when Premier League fans in particular realise that David Raya is not the No.1 for his national team, there are likely to be plenty asking why.

Unai Simon has been Spain's goalkeeper of choice ever since Euro 2020, and the Athletic Club custodian is once again expected to don the gloves in North America despite the form Raya has shown for Arsenal in winning three successive Premier League Golden Gloves.

Raya kept 28 clean sheets in his 51 appearances for the Gunners last term, and was widely regarded as the best goalkeeper in Europe over the course of the campaign. For Spain, however, he has started just one match - a friendly against Egypt - since November 2024, and is almost certainly set to be Simon's back-up when Spain kick-off their campaign against Cape Verde.

"It would be unfair if we didn’t value Unai Simon’s quality, class, career, and professional experience," said De la Fuente when asked about his goalkeeping ranks in March. "It would be absurd for me to have to come here and reaffirm it, just because he’s Unai Simon. When a goalkeeper is at this level, you have to respect his standing and his career."

Barcelona fans, meanwhile, had hoped that Joan Garcia would be given an opportunity after his superb debut season at Camp Nou. However, a shaky display in last week's draw with Iraq has put any hope Garcia had of changing De la Fuente's mind to bed.

There might not be a position in on the planet that comes with more pressure bestowed upon it than being Brazil's starting striker at the World Cup, and despite the Selecao's opening game against Morocco being less than a week away, there is still a debate over who Carlo Ancelotti will select in New Jersey - especially after he chose to omit presumed starter, Chelsea's Joao Pedro, from his final squad.

Matheus Cunha has been bestowed the No.9 shirt for the tournament and, after starting up front in the friendly win over Panama, is regarded as the frontrunner. However, the Manchester United forward has just one international goal to his name from 13 appearances, while his versatility in being able to play out wide or even as No.10 mean he is not regarded as a natural fit by some.

A player who would fit that bill is Igor Thiago, who came out of almost nowhere to force his way into Ancelotti's squad following a remarkable season for Brentford. Only Erling Haaland scored more Premier League goals than the 22 Thiago managed this past campaign, and he has netted twice in his first four Brazil outings. There are questions over his all-round game, but there is no doubt that Thiago knows where the goal is.

The third candidate is the player many expected to have already established themselves as the starting No.9 by now when they first broke onto the scene two years ago: Endrick. However, after struggling for opportunities at Real Madrid, 'the new Pele' fell out of favour with the national team, and without his restorative loan spell at Lyon during the second half of the 2025-26 season, as well as injuries to other attackers, Endrick might not have made it back into Ancelotti's thinking.

He is in the squad, however, and has impressed upon his return. In just a 13-minute cameo against Croatia in April, Endrick won a penalty and provided an assist to help secure victory, before, on Saturday, he netted his first international goal for almost two years to earn a win over Egypt. But has the 19-year-old done enough to force his way into the starting line up? We will know on Saturday...

Defending champions Argentina arrive at this World Cup with largely the same team that triumphed in Qatar, with a number of veterans - led by Lionel Messi - likely embarking on their final global tournament. One area that will look slightly different, however, is the attack following the retirement of Angel Di Maria.

With Di Maria on the left and Messi on the right, Julian Alvarez then emerged as La Albiceleste's starting striker. However, the form of Lautaro Martinez over the past two years two years could now shift the Atletico Madrid man out of that role - albeit it doesn't mean he will fall entirely out of the line up.

Lautaro finished as the top scorer at the 2024 Copa America despite starting only two games, and has netted 15 times in his last 20 international appearances, all while maintaining an excellent goal record for Inter.

Alvarez, by contrast, has scored only seven times in his last 20 Argentina outings, and though he produced the goods in the Champions League for Atletico Madrid last term, he managed only two goals in La Liga from the start of October onwards.

Lionel Scaloni is unsurprisingly keen to get both men into his team, and thus the workaround seems to be starting Alvarez on the left-hand side, with Lautaro through the middle and Messi on the right. It's a system that Argentina used sporadically through qualifying, but hasn't been tested since they edged out Peru 1-0 in November 2024.

There are also questions over whether playing three out-and-out attackers could leave the rest of the team exposed defensively, and thus if that limits the opportunities Nico Paz might receive despite him being the leading midfielder in Serie A last term.

Rayan Cherki does not want for confidence. Speaking after France were surprisingly beaten by Ivory Coast in the first of their pre-tournament friendlies, the Manchester City playmaker went on the offensive: "We are not going to the World Cup as favourites, but to crush everyone."

Cherki might have felt in positive mood after scoring himself and receiving a standing ovation when he was substituted in Nantes, but his quotes still caused quite a stir among the French media, and have forced manager Didier Deschamps into clarifying that his squad are not in arrogant mood as they head to North America.

This is not the first headache Cherki has likely given Deschamps, with Les Bleus' boss under pressure to find a role for one of the game's great mavericks in his all-star attack. However, despite Cherki's display last Thursday, it seems that he will have to be content with a place on the bench once the World Cup begins.

Deschamps is likely to embrace an aggressive attitude at his final tournament, with reports suggesting that Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele will partner one another up front, with Michael Olise and Desire Doue providing support from out wide. As such, there is no room for Cherki even in midfield, with Deschamps needing solidity behind his quartet of forwards. Given what he can produce, that might not go down too well back home.

Germany's lack of a reliable presence up front has held them back for over half a decade, and Julian Nagelsmann is under pressure to get his striker choice right as Die Mannschaft aim to avoid a third-straight group-stage exit from the World Cup.

Nagelsmann does at least have decent options to choose from, with Kai Havertz currently the frontrunner. The Arsenal man both scored and assisted against the United States on Saturday, while he also netted against Ghana in March - albeit that came while playing off the right-hand side as Germany experimented with their forward options.

Nick Woltemade was given the nod up front in that game, and around the turn of the year was the heavy favourite to start up front this summer after scoring four goals in Germany's six qualifying matches. However, Woltemade's disappointing second half of the season at Newcastle, which saw him play the majority of his minutes in midfield, is likely to count against him and limit him to a role off the bench.

Woltemade is not Havertz's main competition, however. That honour belongs to Deniz Undav, whom many fans in Germany believe should actually be the starter after a season that saw the ex-Brighton man score 25 goals, as well as provide 14 assists, in all competitions for Stuttgart.

Undav has an excellent scoring record for his country, with his brace against Finland at the end of May taking his tally to six goals in nine appearances, and he is undoubtedly the form player of the trio when it comes to finding the net. Whether he can displace Havertz and his big-game experience, however, remains to be seen.