Jude Bellingham is England’s Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Vinicius Junior.
The great players elevate their team to a different level and that is exactly what Bellingham is doing for England right now.
Thomas Tuchel said before the tournament that Bellingham was in a “sweet spot” of form – and he is owning England’s stage at this World Cup. And it was Tuchel who said Bellingham is a special player for England.
Mbappe is France ’s superstar, Messi is Argentina ’s greatest and Vini Jr is Brazil ’s go-to man. We can debate about who is the best but every team needs one player to raise their level in a World Cup. Lamine Yamal does it for Spain.
Bellingham only turns 23 on Monday and is already – along with Harry Kane – England’s most important player at this tournament. But it is Bellingham’s capacity to grow which really excites.
His ability to take a game by the scruff of the neck, seize the moment and then make things happen is his genius. You can see his determination, passion and temper grow in frustration in the best possible way.
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This time Bellingham played deeper to allow Morgan Rogers to play the No10 role and yet when England needed some extra magic there he was.
Bellingham got on the end of Bukayo’s Saka’s corner to open the scoring and then provided the assist for Kane to seal the victory and with that it was job done and his legs were saved for the last 32 tie with DR Congo.
Bellingham has already exposed the myth that he is not a team player. He is the epitome of a team player because he steps up when his team needs him.
View 3 ImagesBellingham was at his brilliant best in England’s win over Panama(Image: Jussi Eskola/Soccrates/Getty Images)
It was Bellingham who scored the crucial goal this time. He did it with his overhead kick against Slovakia to rescue England in Euro 2024. There is a growing list.
He scored in Italy in October 2023 to help England clinch qualification for the Euros. It was Bellingham who scored England’s first goal of their 2022 World Cup campaign in the 6-2 win over Iran. His first goal at a major tournament and it signified a new chapter.
It was Tuchel who tried to “tough love” to get Bellingham to perform for England and fit into his team ethic. It would be wrong and incredibly patronising to say that was a turning point.
Bellingham is smart and intelligent enough to know it has to be about the team. And you only need to look at the celebration pictures through this tournament. He is either doing the hugging or being hugged. They are all in it together.
Tuchel was rightly full of praise. “I’m not sure if it’s a reaction,” said the England boss. “But it is what we want from him. He was very positive from the first day in camp.
View 3 ImagesEngland beat Panama 2-0 in their World Cup clash(Image: Getty)
“He buys fully into all the things we demand as a team player, and then he brings his own individual quality to decide football games.
“That’s what you see in World Cups now, and what you see from other teams and other big players. We have it in him and he’s a key player. He buys fully into all the things we demand of him as a team player. So well done until now. He needs to keep going.”
Tuchel did insist it cannot just be about Bellingham or Kane – who now has three goals in this tournament and surpassed Gary Lineker ’s World Cup record – if England are to go a long way. But he stressed the rest of the team deserved credit.
He added: “If you look carefully, sometimes it’s just a run from someone else to open the space up for Jude so that he can shine. They work in units.
“If you see the chance in the first half where Jude is free and does the run into the box, we have a run from Nico O’Reilly who does this run to just take an opponent out. That’s what it is.
“Like I said, we have to work in patterns and we have to work in units to have a higher amount of attacking threat, to have a higher repetition. If we all just play freestyle, no one knows what the other one is thinking.
“So we want to play more in patterns and more in units, and I feel that we get the understanding better and better and better. And Jude is a part of it. That’s basically what we need and what we demand.
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“On a certain level, we want these guys in a key moment to show up. And I am convinced that Nico O’Reilly almost did it against Ghana. Harry did it. Jude did it. And I am sure Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon, Noni, Bukayo will do it when the time is there, and we need that.”
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