Football Jun 17, 2026

Jude Bellingham over Morgan Rogers at No 10? What we've learned from England's World Cup training camp in Florida

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By Admin
Sports Journalist
Jude Bellingham over Morgan Rogers at No 10? What we've learned from England's World Cup training camp in Florida

England's preparation camp is drawing to a close.

After a final training game behind closed doors against Miami FC, and then a couple of days off with family and friends, the squad will fly to Kansas City on Saturday for what will feel like the start of the World Cup proper.

So, have England and Thomas Tuchel got everything they wanted from their 12 days in West Palm Beach?

Our football correspondent Rob Dorsett has been with the team throughout, and answers the key questions.

The whole idea was to choose the most extreme environment in the US at this time of year, in an area of the country that American holidaymakers try to avoid, because the temperatures and humidity are so brutal.

England's sports scientists wanted to force the players to acclimatise as quickly as possible - to "feel comfortable with the discomfort" - so that the rest of the tournament wasn't such a shock to the system.

In truth, they didn't quite get the conditions they had planned. For the first few days after England arrived, temperatures were lower than normal, skies were largely cloudy with long spells of torrential rain, and so training conditions weren't as brutal as they might have been.

As the week went on, that changed. The two friendly matches they played in Tampa and Orlando saw temperatures that never dropped below 30 degrees Celsius.

Declan Rice also told me after the Costa Rica game that the disruption pre-match with the lightning and flooding delaying kick-off by an hour was useful for the players, to know how that would be if it is repeated during the tournament itself.

Until the Arsenal quartet of Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze arrived on Saturday, the whole squad had a clean bill of health.

Key players like Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, who were nursing injuries and fatigue during the Euros two summers ago, looked sprightly and full of energy.

Then Tuchel told us that both Saka and Rice had been nursing injuries for some time during the back end of Arsenal's season, and that their game time would have to be managed.

More so for Saka than Rice, with the winger unable to play a full 90 minutes. Rice said post-Costa Rica he felt fine, which was a positive.

Generally speaking the squad looks in great shape - aided by the fact that many of the players holidayed in the US or Caribbean in the build-up to this training camp.

Ten days ago, you'd have to say that Morgan Rogers was ahead of Jude Bellingham in the England pecking order.

Proof lay in the fact that he featured in all eight of England's World Cup qualifiers, while Bellingham played in half as many.

Even out here in the US, Tuchel said directly that Bellingham had a fight on his hands to win a starting spot.

However, over the two friendly matches, the consensus is clear that the Real Madrid man outplayed his close friend from Aston Villa.

The fact that Tuchel praised Bellingham's workload off the ball against Costa Rica was significant. As was the fact that he wore the captain's armband in both Florida friendlies.

Both are sure to get minutes in this World Cup, but as things stand it seems Bellingham is more likely to be a starter.

Well, England scored three against Costa Rica without the captain getting on the score sheet. That happened in November against Wales, too.

But it seems Tuchel is quite happy for Kane to shoulder the bulk of the goalscoring burden.

The staggering fact is he has got 79 goals for his country - 12 more than the rest of the entire squad put together. But Tuchel says he sees no problem with the lack of goals elsewhere.

We have learned in this camp that the head coach has allocated each of his players one of three roles in this squad, and he has told them as much.

They are either starters, specialists or finishers, and so he says Ivan Toney is content in being a "finisher" who will be asked to make an impact from the bench.

Ollie Watkins' role is less clear to us on the outside. But we now know it is very likely Kane will play less, and be kept for the more vital World Cup moments, with his strike partners shouldering more of the workload.

Anthony Gordon was, for me, England's most impressive player in Orlando. He scored a penalty - emphatically - and set Rice up for the opener.

His direct running and ability to hit the by-line before crossing gives England a different option, and it is no longer clear that Marcus Rashford is ahead of him on the left wing.

John Stones showed again why Tuchel has tried so hard to get him in his squad. His quality on the ball and positional nous set him apart.

He played 45 minutes in Tampa and 63 in Orlando. It feels like England's coaches have a deliberate plan to increase his workload ready for the tournament. Whereas before this camp it felt like Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa were first choice centre-backs, now it feels like it's Guehi and Stones.

Even though Noni Madueke missed a sitter versus Costa Rica, he did enough good things so as not to damage his stock. And with Saka's fitness an issue, his Arsenal team-mate will be more optimistic than he was a week or so ago.

It has struck me just how relaxed the England head coach has been in his first major tournament as an international manager.

He has clearly enjoyed spending time with his players, and with the support of his backroom staff, he has plotted a clever preparation camp that has mixed hard work and play.

The training sessions - most of which have been in private, away from the cameras - have been taxing. Deliberately so. There have been multiple sessions a day, on the grass, in the gym and in the pool. But in between, there has been plenty of time for relaxation.

Guehi told us he'd been out of camp several times to soak up some sun on the beach or grab a coffee with friends.

There has been plenty of downtime for the players to enjoy some golf if that's their thing (for Kane and Jordan Pickford in particular), and for communal watching of Love Island and the NBA Finals.

Now, the whole squad will be given the best part of two days off to spend time with their family and friends, before the flight to Kansas City on Saturday. Coach and players are united in knowing the real work starts then.

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