{"id":466371,"date":"2026-02-13T14:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T14:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/466371\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T14:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T14:05:12","slug":"jude-bellingham-in-race-against-time-to-be-fit-for-england-friendlies-thomas-tuchel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/466371\/","title":{"rendered":"Jude Bellingham in ‘race against time’ to be fit for England friendlies – Thomas Tuchel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thomas Tuchel has admitted he’s “not sure” if Jude Bellingham<\/a> will be fit for England<\/a>‘s friendlies next month, saying the midfielder is in a “race against time” after suffering a hamstring injury playing for Real Madrid<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bellingham was substituted just 10 minutes into Madrid’s 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano<\/a> on Feb. 1, leaving the field in tears, with sources initially telling ESPN the star was expected to be absent for a month.<\/p>\n

However, speaking at Thursday’s UEFA Nations League<\/a> draw, Tuchel said there are now doubts as to whether Bellingham is facing a longer spell on the sidelines.<\/p>\n

Jude Bellingham is injured for Real Madrid and may miss England friendlies.\u00a0Thomas COEX \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

“The club [Real Madrid] is a bit more defensive on the outlook regarding the weeks of his recovery,” Tuchel said.<\/p>\n

“Jude is pushing, and as we know him, he is determined and super professional.<\/p>\n

“He will try everything to be with us in March. Of course we are in contact, that is a normal thing to do, and we wish him all the best… Whatever we can do for him, we will help and support him. It is a little race against time.”<\/p>\n

England are set to play Uruguay<\/a> on March 27 and Japan<\/a> on March 31 — with both games being played at Wembley — as they continue their preparations for this summer’s FIFA World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Personally, I am optimistic [about Bellingham’s fitness],” Tuchel added. “But I am not sure.”<\/p>\n

– Brahim Diaz an able replacement for Jude Bellingham despite unfamiliar role for Real Madrid
–<\/a> Real Madrid transfer questions: What to do about Vini Jr., Bellingham?
–<\/a> How long is Jude Bellingham injured for? How many matches will he miss?<\/a><\/p>\n

Bellingham last played for England in November, playing 25 minutes as a substitute against Serbia<\/a>, and 84 minutes against Albania<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Over the last year he has faced competition for his place in Tuchel’s starting 11 from alternatives including Aston Villa<\/a>‘s Morgan Rogers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bellingham faced another injury layoff earlier this season as he recovered from shoulder surgery, but has still featured in 18 of Madrid’s LaLiga<\/a> matches this campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thomas Tuchel has admitted he’s “not sure” if Jude Bellingham will be fit for England‘s friendlies next month,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466372,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-466371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}