Jude Bellingham: England's Rising Star at the World Cup
Jude Bellingham walked into this World Cup with a question mark hanging over him. Not from Madrid, not from England’s dressing room, but from the outside – from those who wondered whether his patchy form in North America meant Thomas Tuchel should even build a squad around him for another major tournament.
England’s No.10 role has rarely been more hotly contested. Morgan Rogers has been breathing down necks, while Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Morgan Gibbs-White watched from home, their absence sharpening the glare on the man anointed as the playmaking ‘Galactico’. Real Madrid’s star had to justify his status all over again.
He has. Emphatically.
Bellingham opened his World Cup account for 2026 by doing exactly what the greats do: bending a game to his will. With England wobbling in a chaotic 4-2 win over Croatia, he stepped up, lashed them back in front and ripped the tension out of the occasion. The doubts that followed him into the tournament suddenly looked dated.
That was only the beginning. In a tight, awkward scrap with Panama, with frustration starting to creep in, it was Bellingham who broke the deadlock. One chance, one decisive intervention. The kind of moment that turns a grind into a routine win and keeps a campaign on the rails.
Then came Mexico. Altitude, thin air, and a ferocious home crowd at the Azteca Stadium. The sort of setting that has swallowed bigger reputations than his. Instead, Bellingham produced the performance that may come to define this England side’s World Cup story. A ruthless, rapid-fire brace in the last-16 and suddenly the Three Lions had one of their most memorable knockout victories on the biggest stage FIFA has to offer.
He is not just putting up numbers; he is delivering moments. At 23, Bellingham already operates in that rare space once occupied by Paul Gascoigne and Wayne Rooney – players who can tilt the emotional axis of a match in a heartbeat.
Former England defender Des Walker sees the same thing. Speaking to GOAL in association with Wiz Slots, he did not hesitate when asked where Bellingham belongs in the game’s hierarchy.
“He comes to the party, Jude, in the important games, in the important moments. That's what Rooney does, that's what Gazza does, that's what all great players do,” Walker said, nailing the essence of Bellingham’s appeal: he shows up when everything is on the line.
Walker went further, homing in on the physical edge that underpins the swagger. “He is the best athlete, probably in the world, in terms of the amount of running he can do and the power that he has from the first minute to the last minute.
“And more than anything, when Jude goes in the box, he goes in for one reason. He doesn't go in to make up the numbers, he goes in to get the goal. And I think that's a fantastic thing to have in your team, because the onus isn't just on Harry [Kane]. Jude will, in every game he plays, go to score a goal. And with his power, his athleticism and his will to win, it puts him in that category of the best in the world.”
That mentality is what separates him. Plenty of players drift into dangerous areas. Bellingham attacks them with intent. There is no half-measure, no sense of hiding behind the centre-forward. He wants the responsibility, and he wants the glory that comes with it.
Does he enjoy the spotlight? Walker did not hesitate there either.
“Definitely. He is the main man. He revels in trying to be the main man. I think that's what inspires him. He wants to be the show-off, the big head.
“That's all good being the big head and the show-off, but you've got to be big-headed and show-off on the pitch. He does that, and that's his strength. I think when you try to curtail that, we call it arrogance in sport, you need arrogance. You try to curtail that from him, you're taking away half his game.
“Because there's plenty of players, we've all seen loads of players that are off the park, they've got the biggest mouth in the world, they're cocky, they walk around like they're the best footballers in the world. Come Saturday afternoon, when you're playing the real tough teams, the big teams, sometimes they go missing. Jude doesn't go missing.”
That last line could double as the headline for England’s World Cup so far. Bellingham has not ducked a single moment. He has not shrunk from the burden of a nation still dragging around six decades of hurt on the global stage.
Harry Kane, the record goalscorer and captain, remains the reference point, the man history will always circle. Yet in this tournament, it is the Birmingham-born midfielder – cut from the same daring, combustible cloth as Rooney and Gascoigne – who is driving England forward, channelling that unshakable confidence into cold, match-winning impact.
If this is finally to be the summer when the wait ends, it will be Bellingham, front and centre, writing the closing lines.
