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With six wins from six matches, zero goals allowed and a World Cup spot assured before the final rounds, national team coach Thomas Tuchel can argue he has made the right selection choices.

However, in the build-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he raised questions when he stated that three of the England's elite footballers - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - are unable to feature in the same team.

"Presently, if we keep the structure, they won't fit together.

"They might but not within this system, not preserving harmony that we developed and not in this formation that comes also with wingers who are highly specialized in their positions. We play at the moment with defensive, central, attacking midfielders and striker."

From certain starters to fighting for spots

Foden and Bellingham have been deployed on the flanks for England in the past, but the manager's choices indicate that Marcus Rashford and Arsenal's winger are his first choices on the left and right flank respectively.

So can Bellingham, Foden and Kane operate simultaneously?

Gareth Southgate evidently thought it possible.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane started all of England's seven games at Euro 2024 in Germany, where Southgate's side fell to the Spanish in the final.

In the 16 fixtures the stars have performed together, England have triumphed 10 times, shared points three times and lost three, netting 36 goals and conceding 14.

Strategic view: Versatile Foden offers solutions

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

Morgan Rogers has been the main number 10 because of his excellent dribbling, shooting ability and ability to attack the box when the number nine withdraws.

Tuchel has discussed favoring natural flank operators. The Arsenal and Newcastle stars consistently operate in wide areas and can retain the ball skillfully, take their full-back on, and appear in scoring positions.

Behind this front four, Tuchel employs a double pivot consisting of a disciplined defensive presence and another with greater freedom to support offensive play.

So how could Tuchel use these three players?

Foden and Bellingham would be battling with attacking alternatives for the attacking midfield position, with Kane likely to start up front.

Foden could feature as the main forward, which in theory could enable both Bellingham and Foden to play at Kane's expense.

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

"For Man City, he plays almost like a number eight or 10, so perhaps in coming months we view him as a central midfielder," he said.

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

That has enabled him to operate from deeper areas and could position him as the number eight, next to a more defensive number six.

This would then enable Bellingham to operate as the creative force and Kane as the striker.

Irrespective of whether Tuchel opts to structure the side like this at the global tournament, what bodes well is his readiness to exclude star names in the interest of team harmony.