Joe Cole has questioned Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips' position in England's World Cup squad.

Cole believes Borussia Dortmund whiz Jude Bellingham is in "pole position" to start alongside West Ham's Declan Rice for England ahead of Phillips.

After England lost 1-0 to Italy, Cole reckons Bellingham should start alongside Rice moving forward, which would leave Phillips on the bench for the Three Lions.

"He [Bellingham] is really mature on and off the pitch for his age," said Cole on Channel 4.

"He is exactly what England need in that position next to Declan Rice. He is strong, powerful and gets on the ball. I like the way he progresses his passes, he is happy to feed it in and is comfortable having bodies around him. He makes the right passes at the right time and he is such a talent. When he gets the ball, he always looks to go forward.

"In the game against Manchester City, he will always look to pop it and run and go into positions. He needs to be disciplined and he will need to do that in Gareth Southgate's team but he is everything we need for England in that position.

"He is in pole position to be next to Declan Rice, and he is going to add more goals to his game. He is already one of the biggest talents in World football, I love him.

"If we have Grealish, Maddison and Mount playing in that final third, we need someone with bravery to give them the ball, otherwise you could have all the number ten in the world and Bellingham looks like he can fill that gap for us."