Jude and his brother, Jobe Bellingham, earn England call-ups. Jobe Bellingham has received his initial call from Thomas Tuchel's England, joining his sibling Jude, who is the elder of the two, in the party named on Friday, while Chelsea's Cole Palmer was omitted.
Josh King, a teenager at Fulham, also gets his maiden England call-up, with the group preparing for Nations League fixtures against Croatia and Spain towards the end of the month.
Tuchel explained that Palmer “misses too many opportunities” to make his mark for his country, having withdrawn from England's previous squad through injury.
Palmer, who did not make the World Cup party either, has been omitted as Tuchel uses the occasion to assess younger players, since England are all but certain of reaching the Nations League quarter-finals.
Jobe Bellingham's reward comes after a bright beginning to his next campaign with Borussia Dortmund, the club where Jude spent three years before joining Real Madrid.
King has made a good impression even though Fulham are finding the Premier League difficult, and Rio Ngumoha, the 18-year-old Liverpool winger, is part of the squad as well.
After four matches in group A3, England sit in second place, having won three and lost once, the defeat coming against Spain at Wembley.
The Three Lions entertain Croatia on Thursday, a side they thrashed 7-0 when the two met in the last round of fixtures. They then travel to Spain, and a single point will be enough to book their place in the knockout stage in March.
Harry Kane, freshly named Ballon d’Or winner, is poised to overtake Peter Shilton as the male footballer with the most caps in England's history, having drawn level with the ex-goalkeeper, who also made 125 appearances, in the previous match against the Czech Republic.
Everton's Jordan Pickford, Brighton's Jason Steele and Leeds' James Trafford are the three goalkeepers chosen.
Eight defenders have been named in the squad: Alexander-Arnold (Real Madrid/ESP), Jarrad Branthwaite (Everton), Marc Guehi (Manchester City), Lewis Hall (Newcastle), Djed Spence (Inter Milan/ITA) and Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen/GER), plus Arsenal's pair of Ezri Konsa and Ben White.
Called up for the centre of the pitch are Anderson (Manchester City), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid/ESP), Jobe Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund/GER), James Garner (Everton) and Josh King (Fulham), plus three Arsenal players: Myles Lewis-Skelly, Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze.
Six attackers make the cut: Harry Kane of Bayern Munich (Germany), Leeds's Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Barcelona's Anthony Gordon (Spain), Liverpool's Rio Ngumoha, Chelsea's Morgan Rogers and Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White.
Suspension rules Myles Lewis-Skelly out of the fixture against Croatia, and because another central midfielder, Alex Scott, is also injured, an opening has emerged for Jobe to be named in the senior squad for the very first time. The player who loses out is Kobbie Mainoo.
Jobe Bellingham Selected Ahead of Mainoo
Mainoo, the Manchester United midfielder, has for a while been billed as the man to anchor England's midfield in years to come. He is seen as a technically gifted player who can sit just ahead of the back line, snuff out opposition moves and then take the ball to dictate the tempo. It is worth remembering that Mainoo has already started a European Championship final for England.
Jobe played no part at this summer's World Cup, yet Tuchel signalled on Friday that he might now be ahead of Mainoo in the pecking order. The newcomer certainly has the chance, across the coming week or so, to make the most of his opportunity.
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Asked why Mainoo, who pulled out injured from the previous camp, had not been summoned again, Tuchel replied: “Kobbie had a difficult spell with his team, and missed a lot of matches.”
In the meantime, it was Jobe who impressed in the same period of time.
“The door is always open; the door is open for the younger ones to overtake or make their mark, and that's just a sign of the competition in the centre of midfield.”
Jude was only 17 when his senior England bow came in November 2020, and now, six years later, younger sibling Jobe is poised to pull on the Three Lions shirt for his debut. Thursday may prove a landmark for the Bellingham household, and it could also say much about where this England side is heading.
Complete England squad
- Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, Jason Steele and James Trafford.
- The defenders named are Trent Alexander-Arnold, Djed Spence, Ben White, Ezri Konsa, Jarell Quansah, Jarrad Branthwaite, Marc Guehi and Lewis Hall.
- Midfielders: Elliot Anderson, Jude Bellingham, Myles Lewis-Skelly, James Garner, Declan Rice, Josh King, Jobe Bellingham and Morgan Gibbs-White.
- Forwards: Rio Ngumoha, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Harry Kane, Eberechi Eze, Anthony Gordon and Morgan Rogers.
Two matches remain for England in their Nations League A3 group this month, and avoiding defeat against Croatia with a draw would be enough to book a spot in the competition's quarter-finals.
England vs Croatia: Thursday, November 12
Spain vs England: Sunday, November 15
