How Bellingham became Tuchel's most important player

In June 2024, Jude Bellingham scored a dramatic overhead kick in the 95th minute against Slovakia to rescue England's hopes at the Euros. In the heat of the moment, he celebrated by screaming into the jubilant crowd. "Who else?" After England's 2-0 win against Panama, the 22-year-old's performance has a similar feel to it.

Tuchel's tactical tweaks

Tuchel has been firm in stating his system and approach will largely look the same throughout the tournament, but on Saturday we saw subtle tweaks, with injuries in the squad. Bellingham was central to maximising this system, papering over some of the cracks in the meantime. It was a tale of two halves for Bellingham, who was deployed in a more box-to-box role in Declan Rice’s absence.

In their first two games, England opted to build from the back with the two central defenders and Elliott Anderson in the centre of the pitch. Both full-backs took wider positions with Rice and Bellingham vacating the holding midfield areas for Harry Kane to drop in and join Anderson. This shape differed against Panama.

Defensive adjustments

Jarell Quansah came in at right-back for the injured Reece James and was asked to slot into a back three in possession - alongside Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa. Nico O'Reilly kept his roaming left-back role. Instead of Kane dropping deep, Bellingham was tasked with supporting Anderson at the base of midfield, and England's shape on the ball loosely flipped between a 3-2-5 and a 3-1-6 depending on how Bellingham read the game.

After the game, Tuchel confirmed his intentions, explaining that Bellingham "played as a 10 when we had the ball" and that he wanted "to have six players in the last line" - likely in an attempt to outnumber Panama's back five.

England's guiding principles under Tuchel

Under Tuchel's leadership, England have a few guiding principles: entice pressure before speeding up play, look to play vertical passes for runners in behind, counter-press hard as a collective when you lose the ball, build-up primarily through the wide areas using triangles of the full-back, winger and attacking midfielder, and maximise set-pieces. Many of these principles are borrowed from the Premier League handbook of 2025-26.

These were largely on show against Panama, but this time England also looked to build-up play through the centre of the pitch too - with mixed results. It felt as if England were acknowledging that the wide players, that were so effective pre-tournament, were not enough in their current form. Paired with the injury to James, England needed an extra dimension, and Bellingham's tactical nous and versatility came in clutch.

Bellingham's adaptability

Anderson played punchy passes forward whenever space between the lines opened up. With Kane, Morgan Rogers, O'Reilly and Bellingham all positioned centrally at points, England had central presence. By playing into these areas, Panama would converge on the ball, in turn opening up space out wide. But given this has been an area of the pitch England have not prioritised as much under Tuchel, introducing it mid-tournament without natural small-space players such as Phil Foden came with risks.

Bellingham, a player who thrives in big space, adapted his game. When he received the ball in these areas under pressure, he found unorthodox ways to sweep play into the free players out wide. If the spaces between the lines were too congested, he did well to win fouls, rather than losing the ball.

Half-time reflections

At half-time, Tuchel's assistant Anthony Barry reflected on England's build-up play. "Our guys wanted to start the game fast. The stadium felt like a home game but all of this energy skewed our risk management," Barry said. "We had too many central ball losses and that opened up to counter-attacks against a dangerous team. After 30 minutes, we got more control in the game. [In the second half] we'll reinforce [going] for verticality and more speed on the last line."