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Having secured six victories out of six, zero goals allowed and tournament placement secured with two group games to spare, England manager Thomas Tuchel can argue he has chosen wisely throughout qualification.

Yet, in the lead-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he initiated discussion when he claimed that three of the England's elite footballers - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - cannot play in the identical lineup.

"At the moment, if we stick with the system, they cannot play.

"It's possible but not in the structure, not for the balance that we developed and not within the framework that comes also with 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 deployed on the flanks for England in the past, but his team selections suggest that Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka are his preferred options on the wing positions respectively.

So can Bellingham, Foden and Kane play together?

Former Three Lions boss certainly thought so.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane were selected for each England's seven fixtures at the European Championship in Germany, where Southgate's side lost to Spain in the final.

In the 16 games the three have featured simultaneously, England have secured 10 victories, shared points three times and been defeated three times, scoring 36 times and letting in 14 strikes.

Tactical insight: Foden's flexibility provides alternatives

Tuchel has utilized a 4-2-3-1 formation that transforms formation when England attack.

The young midfielder has been the primary attacking midfielder because of his impressive ball progression, strike quality and ability to attack the box when the striker drops deep.

Tuchel has spoken about preferring specialist wingers. The Arsenal and Newcastle stars play out wide weekly and can maintain possession effectively, engage in one-on-one situations, and arrive in the box to score.

Behind this front four, Tuchel employs a double pivot consisting of a holding midfielder and a partner with attacking liberty to join the forward movement.

So how could Tuchel use these three players?

Foden and Bellingham would be battling with Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze for the creative hub, with Kane expected to lead up front.

Foden could feature as the main forward, which theoretically could permit both Bellingham and Foden to operate without the captain.

There is one way all three could feature together and Tuchel suggested it this week.

"With his club, he functions as a central or attacking midfielder, so potentially in future we regard him as a central midfielder," he said.

Foden has been used in a more all-purpose midfield role this season.

That has allowed him to take responsibility deeper and could make him an option as the central midfielder, paired with a defensive anchor.

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

No matter whether Tuchel chooses to configure the team like this at the World Cup, what appears positive is his readiness to exclude star names in the name of balance.