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Having secured six victories in six games, no goals conceded and tournament placement secured with two group games to spare, national team coach Thomas Tuchel could suggest he has made the right selection choices.

Nevertheless, in the preparation for Thursday's home game against Serbia, he initiated discussion when he said that three of the England's elite footballers - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - cannot play in the same team.

"Currently, if we maintain the formation, they cannot play.

"It's possible but not with current tactics, not for the balance that we developed and not within the framework that also includes wingers who are highly specialized in their positions. We play at the moment with specific numbered positions."

From automatic picks to contested places

Foden and Bellingham have been used in wide positions for England in the past, but the manager's choices imply that the Manchester United forward and Bukayo Saka are his preferred options on the wide areas respectively.

But can Bellingham, Foden and Kane coexist in the lineup?

Former Three Lions boss certainly thought so.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane featured in every England's seven fixtures at Euro 2024 in Germany, where the national squad lost to Spain in the final.

In the 16 games the trio have played together, England have won 10, tied three matches and suffered three losses, scoring 36 times and letting in 14 strikes.

Analysis: Foden's versatility gives Tuchel options

Tuchel has played a 4-2-3-1 system that alters structure when England attack.

The Aston Villa player has been the primary attacking midfielder because of his impressive ball progression, shooting ability and skill in entering the penalty area when the striker drops deep.

Tuchel has spoken about preferring natural flank operators. The wide attackers play out wide weekly and can retain the ball skillfully, take their full-back on, and appear in scoring positions.

Supporting the attacking quartet, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of a holding midfielder and another with greater freedom to support offensive play.

So how could Tuchel use these three players?

Foden and Bellingham would be competing with other creative midfielders for the attacking midfield position, with Kane likely to start up front.

Foden could play as the number nine, which potentially could permit both Bellingham and Foden to play at Kane's expense.

There is a potential solution all three could play in this system and Tuchel suggested it this week.

"For Man City, he functions as a central or attacking midfielder, so maybe during the next months we regard him as a central midfielder," he said.

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

That has enabled him to operate from deeper areas and could categorize him as the advanced playmaker, alongside a holding midfielder.

This would then allow Bellingham to play as the attacking midfielder and Kane as the nine.

No matter whether Tuchel chooses to configure the team like this at the global tournament, what bodes well is his preparedness to omit established stars in the interest of team harmony.