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After achieving six consecutive triumphs out of six, an unbreached defense and tournament placement confirmed with matches remaining, national team coach Thomas Tuchel might claim he has made the right selection choices.

However, in the lead-up to Thursday's home game against Serbia, he sparked a debate when he stated that three of the country's best players - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - are unable to feature in the equivalent formation.

"Presently, if we keep the structure, they are unable to feature.

"It's possible but not with current tactics, not for the balance that we created and not in this formation that comes also with wingers who are like specialists in their positions. We presently employ with a six, eight, a 10 and a nine."

From guaranteed positions to competitive roles

Foden and Bellingham have been utilized out wide for England in the past, but the manager's choices imply that the Barcelona loanee and Arsenal's winger are his first choices on the left and right flank respectively.

The question remains whether Bellingham, Foden and Kane play together?

The previous England manager certainly thought so.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane were selected for each England's seven fixtures at Euro 2024 in Germany, where Southgate's side lost to Spain in the final.

In the 16 games the three have featured together, England have won 10, tied three matches and suffered three losses, scoring 36 times and allowing 14 goals.

Analysis: Foden's versatility gives Tuchel options

Tuchel has played a 4-2-3-1 system that transforms formation when England attack.

Morgan Rogers has been the primary attacking midfielder because of his impressive ball progression, strike quality and capacity to penetrate the area when the number nine withdraws.

Tuchel has mentioned preferring dedicated wide players. The wide attackers play out wide weekly and can maintain possession effectively, engage in one-on-one situations, and arrive in the box to score.

Behind this front four, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of a disciplined defensive presence and another with greater freedom to contribute to the attack.

So how could Tuchel use these three players?

Foden and Bellingham would be battling with attacking alternatives for the number 10 role, with Kane probably featuring up front.

Foden could operate as the main forward, which in theory could permit both Bellingham and Foden to feature instead of Kane.

There is an alternative approach all three could coexist effectively and Tuchel hinted at it this week.

"With his club, he operates similarly to a box-to-box or creative role, so potentially in future we regard him as a box-to-box player," he said.

Foden has been deployed in a versatile central position this season.

That has allowed him to take responsibility deeper and could make him an option as the central midfielder, paired with a defensive anchor.

This would then enable Bellingham to operate as the creative force and Kane as the center forward.

Irrespective of whether Tuchel chooses to configure the team like this at the World Cup, what bodes well is his preparedness to omit established stars in the pursuit of tactical equilibrium.