2025-11-14 01:29:22
England head coach Thomas Tuchel has revealed that Phil Foden could be the main back-up to Harry Kane at the World Cup on four conditions.
The Three Lions won their penultimate World Cup qualifier at Wembley on Thursday night, beating Serbia 2-0 thanks to goals from Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze.
England were far from their scintillating best against Serbia, but they did enough against a poor opponent to earn a clean sheet and another victory.
Thomas Tuchel‘s experimented with his players as he used Foden as a false nine for the final 25 minutes and this worked nicely, with the Man City star assisting Eze for England’s sensational second goal.
With England lacking suitable back-ups to Kane, Foden or another left-field option may be used instead of Ollie Watkins or Danny Welbeck.
Speaking after the Serbia match, Tuchel opened the door to using Foden as a striker at the World Cup on four conditions.
“It’s absolutely and opportunity if Phil stays in this shape and form. I have some other options in mind I don’t want to discuss in public. Don’t forget we have Ollie Watkins and some more No 9s other than Harry,” Tuchel said post-match.
READ: England 2-0 Serbia player ratings: Bellingham, Foden, Eze stake claims from bench
“It will come down to who is in shape, who we have in the squad, the opponents we play and what we want from the match.”
On Kane and Foden’s performance, he added: “It was a good match for [Foden]. Harry dropped today a little deeper than normal because they had three midfielders wanting to shut our three midfielders down. The chances and accelerations in play came from the long passes of Harry.
“With Phil, you see he’s full of confidence. From the first minutes when you meet him in camp. The first touches are right, his movement. He can play against any opponent in this position.
“I like to have him in the centre of the pitch, surrounded with close connections with other players. He did well.”
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Tuchel also reserved praise for Man City star Nico O’Reilly, who impressed from the start at left-back.
“We’ve built a core of leaders in the team that drive the standards and build a welcoming atmosphere for new players in camp to be the best versions of themselves,” Tuchel insisted.
“Nico had a fantastic debut. He seems to be very shy but is very intelligent on the pitch and adapted so well to all the new things we demanded from him.
“It’s only possible if you feel good within the group and this is full credit to everyone.”
