BBC Sport experts choose England World Cup XIs - who would you pick?
And while Tino Livramento, Lewis Hall and possibly Trent Alexander-Arnold will be the main alternatives in the full-back positions, it is Reece James and Nico O'Reilly who look to be the men in possession. There needs to be an asterisk with both Reece James and John Stones regarding their fitness. I admire Stones so much as a person that I hope he gets enough football and game time to trust his body with the various injury problems he has had to contend with.
He's a quality player and Thomas Tuchel will give him every chance if he thinks he can play a part. With a squad of 26 you can afford to gamble with one player and Stones is worth the gamble. The fight to play in the number 10 position between Morgan Rogers and Jude Bellingham is going to be fascinating.
Tuchel likes Rogers and he was extremely impressive when he started all four games during September and October. I'm told that in the warm-weather training Anthony Gordon and Jude Bellingham had identical running stats and I wonder if Tuchel is considering where to utilise Bellingham. At some stage, where the heat will be a factor, I could envisage Harry Kane playing around an hour and Bellingham coming on to replace him.
If England are to be successful then the focus can't just be about the 11 who start, but who can make the impact off the bench. Bellingham provides Tuchel with that option either as a 10 or in a more advanced role. I've selected this team on the presumption that they are all fit and niggle-free going into the tournament.
Whether Reece James, John Stones and Tino Livramento are fit enough to play every four days is a big presumption, of course. But this team can go toe-to-toe with any side on the planet. I'm convinced Thomas Tuchel pretty much knows his eleven - and the way this squad is split tells us even more.