Thomas Tuchel Explains Why He Took Bellingham Off During England Victory
Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham was back in England to play for his country during the international window, but his time on the pitch against Latvia was not as long as many would have expected.
England played two matches at Wembley to begin their 2026 World Cup qualification campaign, beating Albania 2-0 and Latvia 3-0 to kick things off. Both games took place at Wembley and Bellingham was a starter for both.
😮💨 pic.twitter.com/pPjJJtUoqb
— England (@England) March 23, 2025
He played the full 90 minutes against Albania but was taken off in the 67th minute against Latvia with the score only 1-0. Many fans were surprised by England coach Thomas Tuchel's decision, but he has since explained that he feared Bellingham would get sent off.
The former Borussia Dortmund player was on a yellow card when replaced by Phil Foden and Tuchel felt that the writing was on the wall.
The first one (yellow) was a bit harsh. The second one was possible. We would have felt it was a bit harsh but it would have put the game upside down. Straight away, we decided to take him out.Thomas Tuchel
As far as Real Madrid is concerned, Tuchel may have done them a favor. The German went on to explain to the press that he felt Bellingham looked tired and was in need of a rest.
In general, you could see the huge effort that Jude put in in the first game. You could see he did not feel so fresh. That is my observation, I’m not sure he would agree. I didn’t want to take the risk and took him off.Thomas Tuchel
Real Madrid will hope that Bellingham is fit and ready to face Leganes on Saturday in La Liga.
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Euan is an experienced soccer writer who has been featured by The Guardian, MARCA, 90min, Sempre Milan and many more similar publications. He secured a first-class degree in journalism at Liverpool John Moores University and his career has seen him primarily focus on European football, developing an in-depth knowledge of multiple clubs and leagues in the process.
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