Discussions are advancing quickly, Sky Sports News understands, after Belgium's exit from the World Cup. More to follow...

McCullum took over the red-ball side in the spring of 2022 and brought about an immediate uplift in form with his 'Bazball' style, winning 11 of his first 13 Tests in charge after England had secured only one victory in 17 games prior to his appointment. However, England have lost eight of their last 12 Tests under the 44-year-old - and won only three - following the recent 2-1 home series loss to New Zealand, which followed a 4-1 Ashes hammering over the winter on a tour littered with errors on and off the field. England cricket news, views and reportsListen to the Sky Sports Cricket PodcastStream England cricket without a contract McCullum said he was "gutted" to be leaving as Test boss, with ECB chief executive Richard Gould saying "the time is right to make a change" as England build towards the home Ashes next summer. England managing director Rob Key - who appointed McCullum four years ago - will stay on in his role, as confirmed by Gould on Sky Sports. Gould admitted an interim solution may be required for the three-match Test series with Pakistan, which begins at Headingley on August 19. "There could be interim but we'll go through the options. We have got a shortlist of candidates that represent global talent," Gould added. "Ideally, we'll have someone in place for the Pakistan Test, but that also clashes with other franchise tournaments and international fixtures around the world. Therefore if we need to take a little bit longer to get the person we want, we'll take that time." McCullum: 'Privilege' to coach England Test team McCullum became white-ball coach in early 2025 and although his first major tournament was a failure - a group-stage exit at that spring's Champions Trophy - he has just led England to the top of the T20 international rankings with a 4-0 demolition of India. England reached the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup earlier this year before a narrow seven-run defeat to eventual champions India, with McCullum also contracted until the end of the next 50-over World Cup in Africa in late 2027. It is all change for the Test team with England not only needing to find a replacement for McCullum as coach but also for Ben Stokes as captain, after the latter called time on his international career following the defeat to New Zealand at Trent Bridge. McCullum said: "I've absolutely loved coaching the Test side and I'm incredibly proud of what we've achieved together. There've been some unbelievable highs and a few tough days along the way, but that's all part of taking on a challenge like this. "It's been a privilege and an honour, and I'm grateful. Grateful to the players, the staff and the fans who supported us on the journey. "Of course I'm gutted not to be continuing, but I respect the decision. My focus now is on giving everything I've got to the white-ball teams and helping England keep moving forward. "I wish the Test team nothing but success. There's a hell of a lot of talent in that dressing room and they're a special bunch of lads. "I'll always be backing the boys, with a smile on my face, and hoping they keep taking the game on. I know they'll continue to make people proud." Bazball starts with a bang but then fizzles out England's achievements in the Bazball era included a 3-0 sweep at home to New Zealand to kick off the McCullum-Stokes alliance and then the same result in Pakistan in late 2022, during which they scored 500 on day one of the Rawalpindi Test. However, England were unable to win any of the four marquee five-Test series they played against India or Australia - drawing with those heavyweights at home and being drubbed away - with their overaggressive batting costing them on many occasions. Drinking issues have also blighted the side with white-ball captain Harry Brook - the front-runner to replace Stokes in the Test role, perhaps even more so now after helming the 4-0 T20 thrashing of India - hit by a bouncer outside a nightclub in New Zealand last October, the evening before England played a one-day international. During The Ashes, a video seemingly showing batter Ben Duckett drunk during a beach break in Noosa emerged, while Stokes and seam bowler Gus Atkinson missed the second Test against New Zealand at The Oval last month after breaking a midnight curfew that had been installed after the raft of incidents over the winter. Stokes and Atkinson were cleared of any misconduct after a situation in a nightclub which saw a member of ECB security personnel require stiches after being struck by a punch aimed at Atkinson from a Saracens academy rugby player. Key: McCullum leaves Test side poised to achieve great things On McCullum's departure as Test coach, Key said: "Some of England's most memorable moments in recent history have occurred under Brendon's leadership of the Test team. "It's been an absolute privilege to watch him shape the mentality of the team, to one the players have loved, and see him develop a new generation of talent who will be at the heart of England men's teams for years to come. "He leaves the Test team well-set and poised to achieve great things." Gould added: "Brendon breathed new life into England men's Test team during an exciting period which saw some amazing victories, and we're grateful for all he has given to the role. "We now believe that the time is right to make a change for the Test team as we target victory in The Ashes next summer." Who takes charge post-Bazball? Analysis from Sky Sports' Adam Williams: There should be no shortage of candidates to succeed Brendon McCullum as Test head coach and the names could be shortlisted from both at home and overseas. Former Australia coach Justin Langer - who has been been in charge of Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL since July 2023 - will probably feature at the top of most lists with significant experience in English domestic cricket. Former England captain Andrew Flintoff is the current coach of the England Lions and would be a ready-made internal promotion for the ECB and would need little handover in terms of getting to know the talent at his disposal. Andy Flower was previously England head coach at a time the Test side made it to No 1 in the world and secured a famous away Ashes series win in 2011, and has been tipped by Nasser Hussain as the perfect antidote to England's attention-to-detail crisis. Former England batter Jonathan Trott has been out of work since standing down as Afghanistan head coach earlier this year, but has significanrt coaching credentials after taking them to the 2024 T20 World Cup semi-finals. Peter Moores has had two previous stints as England head coach and having steered Nottinghamshire to the County Championship title last summer is arguably among the most revered domestic coaches, but a third stint seems a long shot. Surrey director of cricket Gareth Batty could also be thrown into the ring in the same bracket, aftetr The former having overseen a flurry of championship titles in recent years. Mickey Arthur has bags of experience of experience at international level having coached his native South Africa as well as Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka over the past 20 years, and is currently into a fifth year at Derbyshire. Former Australia batter and head coach Darren Lehmann falls into the same bracket as the current coach of Northamptonshire, but feels an unlikely appointment given his role in the sandpaper scandal that saw Steve Smith stripped of his test captaincy. England vs India results and fixtures All times UK and Ireland, all games live on Sky Sports First T20 (Durham) - Match abandonedSecond T20 (Old Trafford) - England won by four wicketsThird T20 (Trent Bridge) - England won by 125 runsFourth T20 (Bristol) - England won by nine wicketsFifth T20 (Southampton) - England won by 56 runsFirst ODI (Edgbaston - Tuesday July 14 (11am)Second ODI (Cardiff) - Thursday July 16 (1pm)Third ODI (Lord's) - Sunday July 19 (11am) Watch Tuesday's first ODI between England and India, at Edgbaston, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 10.15am (11am first ball). Stream cricket and more sport contract-free with NOW.

Bellingham scored both goals in England's extra-time win over Norway in the quarter-final of the World Cup, setting up a semi-final clash with Lionel Messi's Argentina on Wednesday. And Neville believes the Real Madrid midfielder had gone to another level. "He has been absolutely sensational," Neville told Sky Sports News. "Honestly, it gives me goosebumps to watch a performance like that. I don't think I've ever seen an England player have an influence in a tournament like that. "I was with Gazza (Paul Gascoigne) in 1996, I was with [Wayne] Rooney in 2004, I was with Michael Owen in 1998. I watched those things live and I've never seen anything like this. This is absolutely exceptional. It's at the highest level. "This isn't England's next superstar. This is England's superstar right now. This is happening. You've got to recognise, this is obviously game-changing. "You're performing in a World Cup. You scored six goals. You've literally been unbelievable, both in attack and defence. You got your team through almost single-handedly with the support of Harry Kane. "He's 23 years of age. It is absolutely monumental what that lad is doing. "My daughters love football. They're 16 and 17 years of age. They absolutely adore him. He is a hero. Every kid in England right now is watching this World Cup and they're thinking they're Jude Bellingham. "The impact that he is having on young people in our country, on young people around the world in this country that we're in, in the US, it honestly is magnificent. World Cup semi-finals schedule | Report: Norway 1-2 EnglandFollow it all on the Sky Sports App | Golden Boot race "It comes to a point in your career where you either deliver on the highest stage or you don't and your legacy will be determined and defined by that. That's why the great players are the great players. "That's why I used to sit at right back and look up towards the great players that I played with and have so much admiration for them and be grateful and thankful for them because we were there to serve this type of player that could go and win you the game. It's the hardest thing to do and he thought this was his moment. "Everybody's sort of looking at him. Everybody's questioning whether he is world class. Even I, going into this tournament, thought that Harry Kane was our only true world-class player and that we had Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham who just sat that bit below where we thought, 'No, you've just got to do a bit more yet. There's a bit more for you to do.' "He's just gone and done it. He's just gone and climbed that sort of extra step which is a massive step onto what would be that world-class mountain. "I was talking to Roy Keane and Ian Wright after the game last night and they said, right now, if you're watching football, you're seeing the best midfield player in the world and that's not because he's scoring goals, by the way. "We don't tend to sort of give flowers too much for the goals. We know we need them but it's the other bits around it that go to make the complete player that gives him the edge." Disagreement with Tuchel Bellingham's disagreement with England boss Thomas Tuchel was a talking point in the aftermath of England's victory. Tuchel was critical of the performance, something Bellingham appeared to take exception to in his own post-match interviews. "I really liked it," said Neville. "I think when I look back to the previous couple of tournaments, I'm not a great believer in players not doing interviews, particularly when you're the best players in the team. The reason is that you're asking other players to do the interviews for you. "One thing is for certain, an England player has to do interviews after a football match. If you're the guy that's basically the star player, if you're the guy that's going to go and win us the games, I think you're the guy that's got to go and speak. "Jude Bellingham, after every single game in this tournament, has spoken. Even after the Ghana draw earlier in the tournament when it wasn't a great England performance, there was a bit of criticism flying around. "I think there are only a number of players that can make interviews like that, that can punch back a little bit at the manager. He's one of them. "I liked Thomas Tuchel's interview as well. "I lived with that for 20 years in the Manchester United dressing room with a manager [in Sir Alex Ferguson] who wasn't always happy when we won and would go out there and sometimes surprise us by what he would say publicly about the quality of the performance when he might have won by two or three in a big game. "I can live with that as well. I don't mind Thomas Tuchel's interview, but I really loved Jude Bellingham's interview because I think he's taken responsibility on the pitch and off the pitch throughout this tournament. To me, I played with enough great players to know that's what you have to do. Delivering on and off the pitch "I will be critical of players who don't stand up and do interviews. I will be critical of players who don't believe that the off-pitch stuff is as important as the on-pitch stuff. "Players who don't believe the out-of-possession stuff is not as important as the in-possession stuff. I've played with enough great players to know that you can be good in possession and out of possession. "The doubts before the tournament, which to be fair, the few of us working on ITV here never had. We never thought it was a question of [Morgan] Rogers or Bellingham. "We thought Bellingham was a superstar, but he had to prove it. He had to prove it on the biggest stage. Being a superstar isn't just about delivering on the pitch. "I think that interview is one of someone who is completely and utterly comfortable, confident, safe in his own personality and character. "We've got a game on Wednesday. I think that there may be a little bit made about the Tuchel-Bellingham stuff. That's obviously something that's been going on for 12 months, but Tuchel isn't dropping him. "Bellingham is also probably respecting his manager for having the guts to actually say it after as well. He may not do now, but in certainly five, 10 or 15 years, when he thinks about excellence and elite performance, he'll recognise that Thomas Tuchel was only striving for more out of the team at a point whereby he believes they can deliver more. Willing to have difficult conversations "There's this sort of thinking when you're an England manager, that they're not your players and you've somehow got to make sure you keep them happy. You've got to somehow make sure that you send them back to their clubs happy and you've got to make sure that when they're there, you've got to cuddle them and look after them. Sort of mollycoddle them. "The only manager that I ever had with England that didn't do that was Terry Venables. He was the best manager I had with England by a country mile. "I remember he used to take on big characters like Paul Ince or Paul Gascoigne. He would rip right into them at half-time in football matches and they would have a go back. That's when you've got accountability at the highest level where people can be straight with each other. "What you have is basically, I think sometimes, not just in football but in life, where you have people who are not willing to have the difficult conversations with each other. "Thomas Tuchel comes out, he's been given an interview, he's not happy with the performance because he knows that team can do better and he knows they'll have to do better to beat Argentina. "Secondly, he's got a player who wants a little bit of respect for getting to a World Cup semi-final and for the achievements and the effort and the commitment that the players have put in. So for me, I've got no problem with this type of stuff. "I think it happens. I witnessed it at the club I played for a long time, whereby you have these massive characters and egos and you have a manager who is a ferocious, tenacious, unbelievable winner and sometimes it comes to a head but it's not a problem. It's better to be like that than it is the other way." "What I liked about that interview isn't just the words that come out of his mouth. It's the look in his eyes. You see the look in his eyes of someone who is fierce, who's completely and utterly determined to go and succeed. "Now we've got a massive game against Argentina on Wednesday and we know in football, it's knockout football, that things can go wrong but we've got to enjoy him and we've got to enjoy where we are while it's happening. "I'd like England to be playing better. I'd like them to be combining better. I'd like to see more patterns. But the reality of it is this tournament is a lot about moments. It's a lot about big players turning up and we have that. We really do."

Both are supremely self-confident, honest and opinionated, and they expect the highest of standards from everyone around them. Both are winners, and want nothing more than for England to win the World Cup. But here's the rub - each has a different idea about how Jude Bellingham should best be utilised for England to try to achieve that goal. While the Real Madrid star has traditionally wanted a much freer role to influence the game, the head coach has told him to work within the team system he has devised. Tuchel's deliberate tactic has been to use more stick than carrot with his talisman, to try to mould him into an ever-better player. His praise has always been measured, monitored and carefully targeted. Like an over-strict father to his precocious son, who can't quite find it in himself to praise his brilliant offspring in public. The German coach has very rarely praised Bellingham's ability, nor his unique capacity to inspire his team-mates and drive the side on to a higher level. Instead, he has focused his compliments on the moments when Bellingham has toed the line, sacrificed himself for the team, worked tirelessly off the ball. Neville's goosebumps over Bellingham: I have never seen anything like itMerson: Teams win leagues, X-factor wins World Cups - and Bellingham has itWorld Cup semi-finals schedule | Report: Norway 1-2 EnglandFollow it all on the Sky Sports App | Golden Boot race And, it could be argued, it has worked. Bellingham has been the best form of himself for England at this World Cup - eclipsing his performances for Real where the Galactico spirit hails all things individual, all things superstar. If you look at his statistics from the quarter-final, you get the full picture of what a complete player he is. As well as the obvious attacking prowess, where he scored more goals, had more shots, more shots on target, and had more touches in the opposition box than anyone else on the pitch, he also won more duels and was second for the number of times he successfully pressured an opponent in their own half. Tuchel can claim much credit for that all-round dominance. The battle of wills between the two has lasted for more than 18 months. At its worst moment a year ago, it led to Tuchel ill-advisedly saying his own mother sometimes finds Bellingham "repulsive" on the pitch. That really upset Bellingham, and his family. Tuchel apologised, and it has now been mostly smoothed over. It seemed bizarre in October when Tuchel went to extremes to try to force his message through to his star man by dropping him from the England squad completely for the friendly against Wales and the World Cup qualifier against Latvia. Forty-eight hours before Tuchel announced his Bellingham-free squad, the 22-year-old had been named England's player of the year. Pointedly, Tuchel didn't sugarcoat the message by suggesting that maybe Bellingham needed a rest, or that he was nursing an old injury. "Team spirit is the key factor in the end," said Tuchel at the time, emphasising he wanted to stick with the players who had done well in the previous camp, when Bellingham was unavailable because of a shoulder injury. Was that clever man-management from Tuchel? Give the superstar a kick when his nation didn't need him, so that he is even more motivated right now when England need him desperately? Back to this World Cup, and after the quarter-final win over Norway in Miami, Bellingham bristled when I asked him his thoughts on what Tuchel had said - namely, that overall the boss thought it was a "sloppy" team performance, and that England had ridden their luck. Bellingham's spiky response fired back, saying Tuchel didn't know what it was like to play in a top-level knockout game in temperatures that were the equivalent of 44 Celsius. Was that a dig at the fact Tuchel's short and unspectacular playing career in Germany never hit the heights before a knee injury forced him to retire at the age of 25? Probably. Bellingham had won La Liga, the UEFA Super Cup and the Champions League by the age of 22. There was mitigation for both, in what each said post match. And both were correct in their sentiment. Bellingham was utterly drained. He had given his all, and then some. You could see it in his eyes. And he was still elated from making it to his first World Cup semi-final, when in walked the Sky Sports News journalist to tell him that his boss had just said he wasn't happy with the performance. Bellingham's response was perfectly understandable. As for Tuchel, he was right to say that England's performance was lacking quality [with the notable exception of Bellingham and a handful of others], that England rode their luck with Norway's disallowed goal and the mysterious "spidercam wire" shenanigans. He was also absolutely correct to suggest England will need to play much better if they are to beat Argentina in the semi-final, and then either Spain or France in the World Cup final. It was a spontaneous spilling of bile, but it was also a call to arms for the squad. Bellingham was right too. He felt that Tuchel was diminishing the Goliath-like effort that he and his England team-mates had put in, in the most humid and difficult conditions that any of them had ever played in. Bellingham speaking up for his team-mates, praising their efforts and sheer will to win was admirable. And ironically, it was exactly the sort of collective-feeling Tuchel had been calling for from the Real man for months. So, forget any suggestion there is a rift between Tuchel and Bellingham. There isn't. There are just two hyper-competitive, super-passionate sportsmen, at the top of their game, driving each other to new heights. This love-hate relationship has been going on ever since The Football Association appointed a new head coach 18 months ago. Everything you have seen from the two, and between the two, men is positive, it's healthy, and it's great news for England in their hopes of winning the World Cup. POLL! Who will lift the trophy? Have your say now...

Knight, 35, will make her England exit alongside Tammy Beaumont at the conclusion of the first women's Test match at Lord's against India this week. Making her debut in 2010, Knight has gone on to win 320 caps for England, while she captained the side from 2016 to 2025, most notably leading the team to a memorable victory in the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup on home soil. Former captain Heather Knight announces England retirementStream cricket and more contract-free with NOWListen to episodes of the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast "It's a huge moment, isn't it? She has been one of the greats to ever play for England," former team-mate Farrant said on Sky Sports Cricket. "She's been so integral to England cricket and women's cricket in general over the last 16 years her career has spanned. "She would have wanted to go out on her own terms. Not a lot of people are able to do that, and she loves Test match cricket as well, so to be able to play a Test match at Lord's - the first - I'm not surprised by the decision "England are going to really miss her." 'Gritty', 'hardy' Knight loved the tough times Farrant added: "I think it will be that 2017 World Cup title here [at Lord's] that will be remembered forever. "And actually, she came in at a tough time, to follow Charlotte Edwards as England captain is no easy thing to do. For her to be able to galvanise that team quickly and win that World Cup. "Something that I always admired about her is she was so gritty on the pitch, such a hardy cricketer. "She loved those tough times, and felt that that's what made her a better cricketer." Knight is currently ranked third among England's all-time leading run-scorers in T20I and ODI cricket, while she was also the first English player to score centuries in all three formats. But Farrant also stressed that it was Knight's often 'unnoticed' work off the field that she would most remember her for. "Playing under her, she was such a good leader - more so for the things that she did off the field," Farrant added. "She was one of, if not the hardest worker in training, with her fitness. "As a young player coming through, you can get swept up in international cricket, can't you? And you can lose the bits of your life - your friends, your family - because you're so immersed in it. "I always had an admiration for Heather as she always had such a lovely balance between working hard - making sure you did everything, so you're ready to be on that pitch - but also the other stuff when we went away on tour, making sure as a captain we got to go and immerse ourselves in the culture of this new country we were in. "They're the memories that I'll have of her. Not just on the pitch, but the stuff that she did off the pitch. The things that go a little bit unnoticed sometimes." 'Good timing for Knight retirement' Fellow former England international, Ebony Rainford-Brent, also labelled Knight as a "great" but believes it's the right time for her to retire. "My first thought was good timing, to be honest," Rainford-Brent said. "I think it's really important to go out on a high. "She has done so much for the game. She's captained here in a World Cup final win at Lords. "She would have hoped they could have won again on home soil [in the T20 World Cup], but she got to the final, and I think she's just looking forward, thinking, 'I've got a lot to give off the field and I've given everything on it'. "Go out when your name is still at its peak. There's nothing worse than players who kind of drag it out."