Only 4 goals in 45 games! Why can t Foden replicate Manchester City s performance in the England team?

If Phil Foden can bring Manchester City's goal efficiency to the England team, he will already be among the top 40 Three Lions' historical scorers along with Saka. However, the reality is that he only scored 4 goals in 45 games for England. He is tied for 140th with former Liverpool winger Nick Barmby, who played 22 games for the country, and behind defenders such as Tony Adams and Gary Cahill (both 5 goals). His average goals per game only ranks 409th in history. During the same period, he played 333 games with Manchester City, scoring 104 goals and providing 64 assists, with top-notch offensive efficiency.

Since the friendly match against Scotland in September 2023, Foden has not scored for the Three Lions; the last official goal was against Wales in the 2022 World Cup. The remaining two goals were the "double shots" against Iceland in the UEFA Nations League behind closed doors in the 2020 epidemic year. A total of 9 assists, only 1 of which came after the World Cup in Qatar. As Foden returns to the national team after eight months to prepare for the last two rounds of the 2026 World Cup qualifying matches against Serbia and Albania, this question has been brought to the table again: Why can't Foden replicate Manchester City's performance in the England team?

In the past six months, Tuchel chose to put this problem aside temporarily: Foden missed the friendly matches against Andorra and Senegal in June due to "physical and mental exhaustion at the end of the season"; in September, he missed the World Cup qualifiers due to injury. He regained his strength before the training camp in October, but Tuchel wanted to continue the "good atmosphere" of the previous training camp, so even Bellingham gave up. Now that both of them are playing well in the club, Tuchel can only "open the door and welcome the guests".

With the return of Foden and Bellingham, Tuchel also faces a new problem: How to let two superstars who both want to get the ball in the attacking midfielder area coexist? England stumbled through the 2024 European Cup and relied on overtime/penalty kicks to reach the final. Public opinion generally questioned whether Southgate's "forcing" two players in the starting lineup was not worth the gain. Bellingham has been the savior with hooks in seven games, but Foden's statistics are dismal: in the 3-4-3 against Switzerland, he played at the 10th position, had 0 shots on target, 0 key passes, and conceded 19 times. After the game, he was questioned by fans.

In January 2025, Foden tactfully fired in an interview with the Manchester Evening News: "It's difficult for me to influence the game on the left. I just ended the season as the best player in the Premier League, playing in the center, but I was fixed in the old position. It is really difficult to adapt." He also mentioned that he temporarily left the team due to the birth of his third child during the European Cup, and his emotions inevitably fluctuated.

On this national team match day, Tuchel recruited Foden, and he has already figured out how to use the "Prince of Manchester City". In an interview before the game, Tuchel said: "The three superstars Kane, Bellin and Foden cannot start at the same time. Foden's main position in the national team will be No. 8."