Morgan Rogers could challenge Bellingham for England spot, says Nicky Butt

Nicky Butt can see it already. A World Cup, a rising name, and a manager ruthless enough to make the call that shocks a nation.

For Butt, that player is Morgan Rogers. And the man ready to drop a superstar to unleash him is Thomas Tuchel.

The former England and Manchester United midfielder believes the Aston Villa playmaker could force his way past Jude Bellingham at the 2026 World Cup if the Real Madrid midfielder struggles to hit top gear early on.

“[Harry] Kane, [Declan] Rice, [Bukayo] Saka and [Jude] Bellingham are the superstars,” Butt said in an interview with Paddy Power, “but Morgan Rogers could be the one that really stands out.”

Bellingham’s burden, Rogers’ rise

Bellingham arrives at the tournament with the weight of a country on his shoulders and the scars of a difficult season on his body. A shoulder problem and a subsequent hamstring injury disrupted his rhythm, keeping him out for long spells. He still managed 40 appearances in all competitions for Real Madrid, starting 30 of them, but the campaign never quite flowed the way his first year in Spain had promised.

Rogers, by contrast, is riding a wave.

At 23, he has just come off a breakout season in which Aston Villa lifted the Europa League trophy and finished fourth in the Premier League. Across those two competitions, he delivered 13 goals and 11 assists, numbers that scream end-product rather than potential.

His status with England is climbing at speed. Since making his debut in 2024, Rogers has featured in 13 of the national team’s 14 matches. That level of trust under Tuchel is no accident, and Butt is convinced the Villa man has the game to explode on the biggest stage.

“Rogers is a [Thomas] Tuchel kind of player,” Butt said. “He likes him a lot in that number ten role. He can score goals from outside the box. Lots of World Cup goals come from outside the box because teams sit deep around the box.”

The suggestion is clear: if England face low blocks and tight spaces, Rogers’ ability to shoot from range and operate between the lines could become a decisive weapon.

A ruthless England manager

Butt doesn’t see Rogers starting the tournament as first choice. On paper, the XI picks itself. Kane up front, Bellingham as the headline creator, Saka wide, Rice anchoring. The hierarchy is obvious.

But Tuchel, in Butt’s eyes, is not a manager who bows to reputations.

“It’ll depend on how Jude Bellingham starts the tournament,” Butt said. “If he starts the tournament on fire, then it's different. But if he's not on the ball or Harry Kane needs to be coming or he’s not scoring goals…”

That’s where the door opens.

“I’ve got a sneaking feeling that he [Rogers] could come off the bench a few times and score some really important goals. He could be the difference in a lot of games.

“I think the starting XI picks itself and he won’t get in straight away. But if Bellingham's not flying, one thing about Tuchel is that he doesn't give a f*ck about player egos or the perception. If Bellingham, for example, is not playing well, he'll take him out of the firing line and put Rogers straight in.

“You could then see someone who could become England's best player in the tournament, he's got that much ability. People can go in as a bit-part player and come out being a superstar. It's happened with so many players over the years.”

For Butt, Rogers has that “X-factor”. A fast start to the club season, a dip, then a strong finish; a profile that suggests resilience as much as talent. In tournament football, that blend can be gold.

Big expectations, brutal conditions

Butt’s admiration for individual talent doesn’t disguise his wider concern about England’s prospects. He sees a young squad, a demanding environment and a nation whose expectations might not match the reality of what awaits.

“I personally think it would be a success to get to the final stages – the semi or the final,” he said. “But even then, with our expectations as a nation, I think even a semi might be seen as a failure.

“I don't think it would be. We’ve got a young squad, it's going to take time. I can't see us winning it. With the conditions over there, the heat and humidity, all the travel, it just doesn't seem possible. I'm not confident.”

The schedule looms large in his thinking. Long distances, draining climates, the possibility of facing Mexico in Mexico City in the last 16. That, Butt warns, is no footnote.

“We could play Mexico in Mexico City in the last 16,” he said. The implication is obvious: altitude, intensity, and a partisan crowd could turn that tie into a brutal test of England’s legs and nerve.

Tuchel under the microscope

If England fall short, Butt is in no doubt where the spotlight will land. Tuchel’s selection calls have already raised eyebrows, and they will be revisited with venom if the campaign unravels early.

“A failure for me would be obviously not getting out of the group stages,” Butt said. “If we don't get to the semi, some would see that as a big failure especially with all the talent that we've got and because of those that we’ve left at home.

“They’re out of form but he’s not picked Phil Foden, not picked Cole Palmer, not picked Harry Maguire or Trent Alexander-Arnold. So if we don’t get to the latter stages, the finger will be pointed straight at Thomas Tuchel.

“If that happens I think he'd be gone. Both from The FA side and he'd be gone personally as well. He'll want to get back into club football, he looks like a real club football manager, day to day he wants to be involved in it. Obviously the England job came along, it's a massive job, it's one of the biggest jobs in the world. But if it's not a success, I think both parties will want to part ways.”

The stakes are obvious: a deep run to cement Tuchel’s reign, or a swift exit that could end it.

Brazil, Argentina, Spain – and England’s place in the pack

When Butt looks beyond England, his mind keeps returning to familiar colours.

“I honestly do think because of the conditions and the heat and the humidity, it’s going to be really tough,” he said. “It'd be crazy not to look at Brazil or Argentina as favourites.”

He knows this is not the Brazil of Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos, not a side stacked with icons in every line. But the aura remains, and in that climate, with that history, Butt still sees them as a major force. Argentina, too, sit firmly in his thoughts.

“Spain are the favourites and you can see that as they can handle the hit and they'll have a big following,” he added. “I could see that they'd be there or thereabouts, but for me I've just got Brazil and Argentina stuck in my head. I just think it'll be them.”

England, then, are cast not as inevitable champions but as dangerous outsiders, talented yet unproven in those conditions, reliant on a young core and a manager unafraid to make hard choices.

Somewhere in that mix, Butt believes, lies the possibility of a new star in Morgan Rogers, waiting for a moment, a misfiring big name, and a ruthless call from Tuchel that could change the shape of England’s World Cup – and perhaps the trajectory of a career.