Bellingham and Kane Left Out, England's World Cup Dream Dies Against France

Benched then beaten

England's World Cup run is over, and the manner of the exit has left as many questions as the scoreline. Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane, the two biggest names in the squad, did not start the semi-final defeat to France, and both were left "gutted" as their side crashed out at the last-four stage. For two players who carry a club's crest as much as their country's, at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively, the decision to leave them out of the starting eleven for the biggest game in years has become the story of England's tournament.

Neither man has offered a public complaint about being dropped, but the reaction afterwards told its own tale. Kane, fresh off a 61-goal club season that has already been garlanded with individual honours in Germany, and Bellingham, one of the most influential midfielders in world football at Real Madrid, are not players a manager benches lightly. That the call was made for a World Cup semi-final against France, and that it did not work, will only intensify scrutiny of the selection.

Why it matters

This tournament has been billed as one of the great Golden Boot races in World Cup history, with Kane, Messi, Mbappe and Haaland all mentioned in the same breath as the sport's supposed superstar glut refuses to normalise, exactly the kind of headline-grabbing form Kane has carried into the finals after a season in which he dominated Europe's elite scorers by some distance. For England to go into a semi-final without two players operating at that level in the XI, and then lose, is bound to be picked apart for weeks.

For Bellingham, it adds another layer to a career that has already seen him become central to Real Madrid's plans. For Kane, it is a bittersweet contrast to a domestic year that made him the toast of German football, only for his international story to end in disappointment yet again. The gap between club dominance and international heartbreak for England's talisman remains as stark as ever.

What happens next

Expect the inquest to run long after the final whistle. Questions will be asked of the head coach's team selection, of whether Kane and Bellingham were carrying knocks or simply left out on tactical grounds, and of what this means for England's next cycle. Both players return to their clubs with domestic and European campaigns to refocus on, Bellingham back into Real Madrid's title fight, Kane back to a Bayern Munich side that has just been crowned champions with him leading the line. But the sight of two of the world's best forwards watching a World Cup semi-final from the bench, only to end up beaten by France anyway, is the kind of image English football will be replaying for a long time yet.