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Having secured six victories out of six, an unbreached defense and a World Cup spot assured before the final rounds, Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel can argue he has chosen wisely throughout qualification.

However, in the preparation for Thursday's domestic match against Serbia, he sparked a debate when he said 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 in the structure, not maintaining equilibrium that we created and not in this formation that incorporates wingers who are essentially experts in their positions. We currently utilize with defensive, central, attacking midfielders and striker."

From automatic picks to contested places

Foden and Bellingham have been used in wide positions for England in the past, but his team selections imply that the Manchester United forward and Bukayo Saka are his primary selections on the wing positions respectively.

So can 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 the European Championship in Germany, where the national squad were defeated by Spain in the final.

In the 16 games the three have featured alongside each other, England have won 10, shared points three times and been defeated three times, scoring 36 times and conceding 14.

Analysis: Foden's versatility gives Tuchel options

Tuchel has played a 4-2-3-1 system that changes shape when England attack.

The young midfielder has been the main number 10 because of his strong ball-carrying, ball-striking and skill in entering the penalty area when the forward retreats.

Tuchel has spoken about preferring specialist wingers. The wide attackers regularly feature on the wings and can retain the ball skillfully, engage in one-on-one situations, and arrive in the box to score.

Supporting the attacking quartet, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of a disciplined defensive presence and a partner with attacking liberty to contribute to the attack.

Potential configurations for England's stars

Foden and Bellingham would be battling with other creative midfielders for the number 10 role, with Kane likely to start up front.

Foden could play as the number nine, which in theory could allow both Bellingham and Foden to operate without the captain.

There is one way all three could play in this system and Tuchel hinted at it this week.

"With his club, he functions as a central or attacking midfielder, so perhaps in coming months we view 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 categorize him as the number eight, next to a more defensive number six.

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

Irrespective of whether Tuchel decides to set England up like this at the international competition, what seems encouraging is his readiness to exclude star names in the pursuit of tactical equilibrium.