Jude Bellingham has been given the coveted No 10 shirt for England's World Cup campaign, a boost from manager Thomas Tuchel as preparations begin in Florida. The Real Madrid midfielder takes the number ahead of Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze, while Elliot Anderson secured the No 8 shirt.
Twenty-one of Tuchel's 26-man squad are in West Palm Beach for a week-long training camp, with temperatures reaching 33C. The squad numbers were confirmed on Tuesday, two weeks before England's opening World Cup fixture against Croatia on 17 June.
Midfielder Kobbie Mainoo expressed the squad's belief in their ability to win the tournament. 'One hundred per cent,' the Manchester United player said. 'I feel like everyone in the squad and the staff believes we can win it but it doesn't come easy and the first game, the second game, we have to build and build.'
Veteran Jordan Henderson, at his fourth World Cup at age 35, emphasised the need for high standards. 'It's about bringing the best version of ourselves, individually and collectively, and working every day to achieve our dreams,' he said. On the heat, he added: 'It's hard to really adapt but this week is about building capacity. We've got an amazing team behind the team working on how we cool down and recover.'
Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham acknowledged the challenge, noting that only twice in history has a European team won a World Cup outside Europe. 'It's very hard to win in heat, altitude, humidity and so on,' he said. 'So it is going to be hard, but we'll be doing everything we can to go as far as possible.'
Arsenal's Declan Rice, Noni Madueke, Eze and Bukayo Saka, and Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson will join the squad late after European finals. Tuchel has supplemented the group with Liverpool's Rio Ngumoha, Fulham's Josh King, Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri and Bournemouth's Alex Scott.
