England shirt numbers leaked as huge call made over Bellingham’s No.10 | Football | Sport

England’s squad numbers for the World Cup have been revealed – and they offer a clue about Jude Bellingham’s role in the squad. The Three Lions kick off their campaign at 9pm UK time on Wednesday, June 17 in Dallas.

Nico O’Reilly has been handed the No.3 shirt, pointing towards a starting berth at left-back. Elliot Anderson will be England’s No.8, seemingly confirming his place in midfield alongside No.4 Declan Rice.

Marcus Rashford has been allocated the No.11 shirt, potentially indicating he holds the edge over Anthony Gordon (No.18) for a place in attack. Naturally, shirt numbers don’t tell the whole story.

Reece James has taken his preferred No.24 shirt but is expected to start at right-back. Ezri Konsa, arguably Stones’ fiercest rival for the centre-back berth, has been handed the No.2 shirt, typically reserved for the first-choice right-back. Meanwhile, Bellingham retains the No.10 despite Morgan Rogers (No.17) frequently edging ahead of him in the pecking order during Tuchel’s reign.

A 21-man squad touched down in Miami for England’s pre-tournament camp on Monday, with the five remaining players afforded extra time off after reaching European finals with their clubs. Dean Henderson helped Crystal Palace clinch the Conference League before Arsenal stars Rice, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze fell short in the Champions League final.

England are scheduled to play two warm-up friendlies ahead of the World Cup, both of which will be held in Florida. The Three Lions first face New Zealand on Saturday, before taking on Costa Rica the following Wednesday.

Tuchel is expected to use the friendlies to experiment with his options and carefully manage the workload of his key players. It remains to see whether the four youngsters invited to train in Miami – Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott, Fulham star Josh King, Liverpool winger Rio Ngumoha and Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri – will feature in either fixture.