Shearer's World Cup XI Omits Bellingham and Rashford

Alan Shearer has thrown his hat in the ring with his own England starting XI for this summer's World Cup, and it's a selection that raises eyebrows—most notably for the absence of Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford.

With Thomas Tuchel's squad in the final countdown to the tournament, England are squeezing in friendlies against Uruguay and Japan this month. The manager has cast his net wide, calling up 35 players for the international break, a decision Shearer has publicly endorsed.

The former Newcastle striker explained his reasoning to Betfair: "Thomas Tuchel is obviously going to tweak it a bit with players that he's brought in. I like the idea of what he has done with the 35-man squad in terms of giving players a bit of a rest for one game and then the rest of them will come in for the next."

Shearer acknowledged the difficulty in reading too much into these fixtures, given that not every player featuring will make the cut for the 26-man squad heading to the USA, Mexico, and Canada. "It'll be difficult to gauge where we are because I guess there's going to be a lot of players in either 11 that might not even be in the 26-man squad," he noted. "But what it does do is, gives a good opportunity for one or two."

As for his own preferred starting XI, Shearer has plumped for: Jordan Pickford in goal; Reece James, Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa, and Lewis Hall in defence; Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson in midfield; Morgan Rogers in an attacking role; with Bukayo Saka, Harry Kane, and Anthony Gordon completing the front line.

When it comes to England's World Cup prospects, Shearer is bullish. "I believe England can win the World Cup," he declared. "When you look at our talent, when you look at the players fighting for positions, then yeah. If you go through the squad, then yeah, England have got a really, really good chance to win it."

However, he was quick to temper expectations with a dose of realism. "But then, so have France, so have Spain alongside others who will be thinking that they're the same as well. France have got a huge amount of talent and Spain have got a ridiculous amount of talent as well. As have Portugal. They'll all be seeing what we're seeing and obviously clearly only one can win it, but we go into it with a real proper chance here."