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With six wins 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.

Nevertheless, in the build-up to Thursday's Wembley encounter against Serbia, he raised questions when he claimed that three of the country's best players - Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane - are unable to feature in the identical lineup.

"Currently, if we stick with the system, they won't fit together.

"They can but not within this system, not for the balance that we created and not within the framework 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 automatic picks to contested places

Foden and Bellingham have been deployed on the flanks for England in the past, but his team selections indicate that Marcus Rashford and Arsenal's winger are his primary selections on the wing positions respectively.

So can Bellingham, Foden and Kane operate simultaneously?

Former Three Lions boss certainly thought so.

Bellingham, Foden and Kane started all of England's seven matches at last summer's tournament in Germany, where Southgate's side lost to Spain in the final.

In the 16 fixtures the stars have performed together, England have secured 10 victories, drawn three and suffered three losses, registering 36 scores and conceding 14.

Strategic view: Versatile Foden offers solutions

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

The Aston Villa player has been the main number 10 because of his excellent dribbling, shooting ability and ability to attack the box when the striker drops deep.

Tuchel has discussed favoring dedicated wide players. The Arsenal and Newcastle stars play out wide weekly and can retain the ball skillfully, take their full-back on, and enter the area to finish.

In midfield behind the attackers, Tuchel utilizes two central midfielders consisting of one defensively strict player and a partner with attacking liberty to join the forward movement.

Potential configurations for England's stars

Foden and Bellingham would be battling with other creative midfielders for the attacking midfield position, with Kane expected to lead up front.

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

There is a potential solution all three could feature together and Tuchel alluded to it this week.

"For Man City, he operates similarly to a number eight or 10, so maybe during the next months we regard him as a box-to-box player," he said.

Foden has been utilized as a flexible midfielder this season.

That has enabled him to operate from deeper areas and could position him as the number eight, alongside a holding midfielder.

This would then permit Bellingham to feature as the number 10 and Kane as the nine.

Regardless of if Tuchel opts to structure the side like this at the global tournament, what bodes well is his readiness to exclude star names in the name of balance.