Jude Bellingham trained with his England teammates ahead of their friendly against Japan but manager Thomas Tuchel has confirmed the midfielder will not be risked, despite the imminent World Cup squad announcement.

The 22-year-old is working his way back from a hamstring issue that reduced him to tears in early February, and only returned to Real Madrid action as a late substitute eight days ago.

Tuchel had initially hoped Bellingham, included in March’s 35-man squad, could feature against Japan after missing Friday’s 1-1 draw with Uruguay.

However, despite good progress and participating in Monday’s session at Tottenham’s training complex, Tuchel will keep him as a spectator at Wembley once again.

“I think it’s too much of a risk,” the England head coach told BBC Radio 5 Live. “So, the tendency is that he will not play.

“We have all gained from him being part of it. He was excellent in training, but he was involved as a neutral player. He was involved in not the whole 100 per cent of the training.

“So, it looked very, very good but we’re still holding him back, to not take a risk.

“The injury is a muscle, it’s a very particular one, and we absolutely don’t want the re-injury in this moment of the season.

“And him as well, it was very good that he was in camp. He was excellent. But the tendency is that he won’t play.”

Bellingham was among 26 players that took part in Monday’s session at Spurs’ state-of-the-art training ground.

Jordan Henderson, who captained the side against Uruguay, followed his own programme indoors away from the main group.

Tuchel added that Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka were desperate to play for England but felt the risk of the Arsenal duo aggravating injuries was “way too big” at this stage of the season.

The German coach picked an expanded 35-man squad for the final camp before making his World Cup selection, with the first wave of players joined by 11 established names on Friday.

Rice and Saka were among the late arrivals but, having watched the 1-1 draw with Uruguay at Wembley, were among five injury withdrawals the following day, along with Arsenal team-mate Noni Madueke.

O’Neill has always spoken of wanting his players to play at the highest level, but as mentioned, a significant number of players will be going up against his Rovers to avoid the drop and it’s tight at the bottom.

They include Price at West Brom, who are also four points above the relegation zone, Ciaron Brown, Jamie McDonnell, Jamie Donley and Brodie Spencer at Oxford United, who are one point from safety and Terry Devlin at Portsmouth, who are one point above the drop, while he manages Tom Atcheson at Rovers.

Is it a cause for concern for Northern Ireland that the international boss could potentially relegate some of his regulars in the international squad?

O’Neill certainly didn’t think so.

When asked in February he said he isn’t “having that blood on my hands” and the fate of those clubs lay with their respective managers.

“At the end of the day, my job is to do the best I can for Blackburn Rovers,” he said.

“The lads who manage those respective clubs, their job is to do the best for their clubs as well. I don’t think that’s an issue at all.”

Cynics may question whether O’Neill, who will have reduced preparation time with Rovers for two big games by virtue of preparing NI to face Wales, will deliberately disadvantage Championship rivals while in charge of NI in terms of how he manages the aforementioned players’ loads against Wales with a busy spell of domestic action to follow.

Coincidentally, three of the four players released from the NI squad in Norwich’s Ruairi McConville (knee), Preston’s Ali McCann (knock) and Hull City’s Paddy McNair (thigh) will face three of O’Neill relegation rivals in Portsmouth, Leicester and Oxford on Friday.

O’Neill would refute any suggestion of meddling no doubt and when asked about the cramped schedule said he was “aware of the situation” but stressed he would still focus on helping Northern Ireland win the game in Cardiff.

“We’re not in charge of the schedule of the games for either the international window or the EFL. I think 80% of my squad play in the EFL. We’re mindful of the situation for the clubs, of course, but when the clubs signed these players, they knew they were international players and, we’re not going to be reckless with the players or anything like that there, but, we have to obviously look after ourselves as a group of players,” he explained.

“The most important thing is that the players just go out and play the game. They’ll be fine. The lads who play in the EFL, they play a lot of football and they’re used to playing regular football. So they’ve got resilience and I’m sure they’ll get through the game fine.”

Also in this sports roundup:

In tennis, Jannik Sinner won back-to-back titles at Indian Wells and Miami.

Kimi Antonelli won the Japanese Grand Prix in Formula 1.

In cycling, Jonas Vingegaard won Volta a Catalunya.

Stade Français put on a spectacular performance against Clermont in the Top 14.

We are now just one week away from the 2026 Masters at Augusta National, and the field is almost set. One competitor could still be added this week by winning the Valero Texas Open (see: Rickie Fowler), and we still don’t know if Tiger Woods will play.

However, on Sunday at the 2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open, five PGA Tour pros not previously qualified for this year’s Masters punched their tickets to Augusta National.

While Gary Woodland did it in emphatic fashion, four other top pros earned their spots a more precarious way: via the final Official World Golf Ranking update ahead of the tournament.

Here’s what you need to know.

5 players who qualified for 2026 Masters on Sunday

Gary Woodland

Woodland is easily the best feel-good story of the 2026 season. Recently, Woodland opened up about his struggles with PTSD following brain surgery that derailed his career a few years back.

He said he hoped the public admission would help him progress in recovery. And did it ever. The 2019 U.S. Open champion dominated the Texas Children’s Houston Open to win his first title since that U.S. Open.

The victory also earned him a spot in the 2026 Masters, where he’ll make his first start since 2024.

Nicolai Hojgaard

Hojgaard made a name for himself by starring on the 2023 European Ryder Cup team, before letting his twin brother Rasmus take his spot in 2025.

Heading into the Houston Open without a spot in the Masters, Hojgaard was hoping to chase down Woodland and earn his invite that way.

But he had one other avenue to make it to Augusta: the Official World Golf Ranking. All players ranked within the Top 50 of the OWGR after this year’s Texas Children’s Houston Open earn spots in the 2026 Masters.

At No. 47 to start the week, Hojgaard was at risk of getting knocked out. Though a Sunday 71 left him five shots behind Woodland, Hojgaard finished runner-up, which improved his OWGR ranking to 36th.

As a result, he safely earned his spot in the Masters, where he’ll be making his third-career start. He joins his brother Rasmus in the Masters field. In 2025, they became the first pair of twins to compete in the Masters.

Daniel Berger

Berger is a four-time PGA Tour champion who has played in six Masters. His best finish was a T10 in his Masters debut in 2016. Though he missed the 2023 and 2024 events, he returned to the Masters in 2025 and finished T21.

That wasn’t good enough to qualify him for 2026, but after finishing the Texas Children’s Houston Open at 38th in the OWGR, he earned his tee times at Augusta National in a week’s time.

Jake Knapp

Knapp, 31, has only played in one Masters, doing so after winning the 2024 Mexico Open for his only PGA Tour victory. He made the cut and finished T55.

Knapp didn’t qualify last year, but when he woke up on Monday, his OWGR ranking of 42 officially stamped his place in the 2026 Masters field.

Matt McCarty

The youngest player on the list at 28 years old, McCarty made his Masters debut last year following his maiden Tour victory at the 2024 Black Desert Championship.

He played great as a Masters rookie, eventually finishing an impressive T14. But that wasn’t quite good enough to punch his ticket to the 2026 Masters. No matter. He played his way into the Top 50 in the OWGR with a solid start to the season, finishing last week at 46th. That means he’ll make his second Masters start next week.

Moses Itauma could be set to challenge for a world title in his next fight.

Itauma proved yet again on Saturday why he is one of the most exciting stars in boxing after he recorded a destructive fifth round knockout win over Jermaine Franklin at Co-Op Live in Manchester.

Franklin had never been stopped before heading into the bout, including in fights with Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte, but a vicious uppercut followed by a right hook sent the American face first onto the canvas and gave Itauma a dominant victory.

Speculation has already begun over who the 21-year-old could face in his next outing, with some fans suggesting he already has the skills to test himself against unified world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.

Instead, it is a battle against WBA Regular heavyweight champion Murat Gassiev that may be next, after Gassiev’s promoter Al Siesta posted on social media confirming they are ready for the fight.

“Amazing performance by Moses. Remember we are READY to host Itauma against our WBA Champion Murat Gassiev NEXT. London, Moscow, Dubai, ANYWHERE.”

Gassiev became WBA Regular champion thanks to a stoppage win over Kubrat Pulev in December, and as Itauma is currently ranked as the number one contender with the WBA, a clash against Gassiev has been touted for some time.

Itauma is also number one with the WBO, so he could also have one eye on the WBO heavyweight title fight between Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois in May, though the youngster recently explained why he may not want to face the possible winner of that bout.

Liverpool playmaker Florian Wirtz believes the struggles he encountered after making the move to Anfield have made him stronger.

The 22-year-old Germany international arrived in a £116m deal from Bayer Leverkusen as one of Europe’s hottest young talents but bedding into a team which underwent a £450m summer overhaul proved difficult.

Wirtz struggled with the physicality but a tailored strength and conditioning programme designed to make him more robust for the Premier League helped get him through.

After failing to score in his first 22 appearances, he enjoyed a run of six in 10 matches from Boxing Day, although he has since gone eight games without scoring.

But his overall success is not entirely in his own hands as he has created over 70 chances in the Premier League and Champions League this season but the under-performing team has failed to capitalise.

“It wasn’t an easy phase,” Wirtz, speaking about his first few months in England, told German television show Sportschau.

“It’s sometimes good that things don’t always go upwards and that you experience a dip and grow stronger because of it.

“That’s how I see it now as well – it has made me a bit stronger. I had to overcome resistance and adapt. I had to learn to become stronger and hold onto the ball.”

While his domestic form may have dipped again, he showed his quality in Germany’s 4-3 win over Switzerland on Friday – with two goals and two assists – and he credited national team boss Julian Nagelsmann with helping him during his tough transitional phase.

“The coach always supported me during the difficult phase after my move to Liverpool and always had an open ear for me,” he added.

“He gave me tips and reassured me. That has brought us closer together.”

Gary Woodland’s Cobra OPTM Max LS-K driver isn’t just a weapon off the tee, it’s also a fully armored tank!

Woodland got his long-awaited fifth PGA Tour victory Sunday, seven years after his marquee U.S. Open win, and the driver was a big reason why.

The 41-year-old, who leads the PGA Tour in driving distance and clubhead speed, was dialed at Memorial Park Sunday, leading the field in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in the final round on his way to a five-shot victory.

Woodland plays one of the coolest driver setups on the PGA Tour, opting for Cobra’s prototype OPTM Max LS-K driver, something Cobra Tour Rep Ben Schomin described as a “working prototype” earlier this season. It’s essentially a lower-spin, fade-biased version of Cobra’s retail Max K driver that was specifically built with Woodland in mind when he started playing Cobra’s DS-ADAPT Max-K driver last season.

“This is my 18th year on Tour and the drivers that I’ve played when I’ve driven the golf ball well have been back-weighted,” Woodland told GOLF in February, referring to the deeper CG of drivers designed for game-improvement players. “Everyone wants front weight to get the spin down and distance. But for some reason, I’ve been back with it, and I started struggling with spin last year. I went through all the drivers, and I got to their Max K driver last year, and it was low spin for me for some reason.”

With that deep CG, Woodland prefers a lower lofted head, which is why his driver measures in at just 6.4 degrees of loft. He also pairs it with a telephone pole-like Ventus Black 8-X shaft.

When Max Homa breifly switched into the prototype earlier this year, Schomin explained that because the LS-K is not a production model like the regular OPTM LS, X and Max-K, they can still make changes to it. The goal is to test design and performance concepts to potentially utilize in future production models.

Compared to the production Max-K, the LSK has a similar shape, but a lower and deeper CG to lower spin and produce a neutral-to-fade bias, Schomin said.

As opposed to the retail OPTM line of drivers, which have glossy crowns, the LS-K has a matte finish because it’s easier for the company to get it out on Tour. Woodland has been using the prototype since the PNC Championship in December.

He also pairs the prototype head with a lead pipe-esque Fujikura Ventus Black 8-X with VeloCore+, a shaft many players have in their 5/7-woods, but Woodland loves a heavy driver shaft at a shorter length to pair with his smoother tempo.

Gary Woodland’s winning driver at the 2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open