England vs Serbia live: Bellingham and Foden eye returns to line-up in World Cup 2026 qualifier | OneFootball

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Bellingham showed that he deserved to be in the England squad - Tuchel

England host Serbia in their penultimate World Cup 2026 qualifier this evening secure in the knowledge that they have already booked their place in next summer’s tournament.

Beating Latvia in last month’s qualifiers ensured that England will finish top of Group K regardless of the results in their final two qualifiers meaning there is now scope of Thomas Tuchel to fine-tune his side ahead of the competition.

The England boss has just two camps left before the tournament begins and he will want to determine which players are guaranteed a spot on the plane to Mexico, Canada and the United States.

Recalls for Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden, as well as a first call-up for Bournemouth’s Alex Scott, will give Tuchel plenty to ponder over the next two games with a plethora of strong options needing to be whittled down.

Yet for Serbia a positive result tonight is paramount. They are vying for second place in the Group and will to improve against an England side that defeated them 5-0 in their last meeting.

‘This kid is something else’: The secret behind Alex Scott’s rise from Guernsey to an England call-up

Alex Scott made his Guernsey FC debut as a second-half substitute, with an adult shirt flapping around his 16-year-old frame like a bedsheet. The opposition’s central midfielder, who had tattoos up to his neck and a glint in his eye as the teenager ran on to the pitch, welcomed him to non-league with a shove. “This guy could smell blood,” remembers Guernsey manager Tony Vance. But before he could put the boot in, Scott had swivelled and taken the ball somewhere else.

This was Scott’s gift, to receive it in tight spaces with ease and make opponents look foolish. Most players of his age and talent were in academies playing on green carpets at high-tech training centres, while Scott was learning to survive in the Isthmian League South East, the eighth tier of English men’s football, where midfield was essentially an escape room of sharp elbows and metal studs.

Vance watched Scott grow from a five-year-old boy to a professional player, first at Bristol City as a teenager – who, after an FA Cup game, Pep Guardiola called “unbelievable” – and now sparkling at Bournemouth in the Premier League, and he believes that six-month period playing men’s football was the making of him. Now, aged 22, Scott has earned his first senior England call-up.

Lawrence Ostlere speaks to England new boy Alex Scott:

‘This kid is something else’: Alex Scott’s rise from Guernsey to an England call-up

Bournemouth’s Alex Scott and the Channel Island coaches who helped his prodigious talent develop tell Lawrence Ostlere how he shone aged five and thrived in non-league

Lawrence Ostlere13 November 2025 17:45

Thomas Tuchel provides Marc Guehi injury update ahead of Serbia clash

Thomas Tuchel has confirmed Marc Guehi will play no part in tonight’s qualifier against Serbia due to injury, but hopes to have him back for the Albania trip.

“Everybody is in training in the afternoon except for Marc Guehi,” Tuchel said on Wednesday.

“With Marc it is very painful but there is no structural damage so it is all about the pain.

“There is the possibility that from one day to the other there is a significant improvement so we are working realistically towards the second game. If he is not in training on Friday and not able to train on Saturday then we will not make him travel with us and he will of course get rest and treatment.

“We want him to stay with us, want him to stay close. He is one of the leaders, he is an important member of the team. He is glue between many players and it is nice to see that he is trying everything to be included in the second game. We will assess him every day.”

(PA Wire)

Serbia team news

Serbia will lament the absence of all-time top scorer Aleksandr Mitrovic, who missed out on the November squad to an unspecified problem.

The onus will turn to Juventus duo Dusan Vlahovic and Filip Kostic, as well as Luka Jovic, for goals.

(PA Archive)

Will Castle13 November 2025 16:33

England vs Serbia LIVE!

Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of England’s penultimate World Cup qualifier against Serbia.

The Three Lions ensured that nothing will knock them off top spot of Group K when they thrashed Latvia last month, booking their flight bound for North America in doing so.

But there is still work to do for Tuchel, who has shaken things up once again with his squad by recalling the likes of Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden, while also handing a first call-up to Bournemouth’s Alex Scott.

While performance will be the key talking point for England, result is all that matters for Serbia who are still vying for a precious second-place finish under new management. They’ll need a better outcome than they experienced in Belgrade back in September, though, which saw England come out rampant 5-0 winners.