Жүүд Беллингхэмийн гайхамшигт тоглолт Английг шөвгийн наймд шалгарууллаа

Jude Bellingham looks right at home at the top level, extremely comfortable at Real Madrid, but he is proof that you can take the boy out of England, but you cannot take the England out of the boy.

For the avoidance of doubt, that is a very good thing.

Bellingham was terrific in his team’s chaotic, dramatic, gut-wrenching 3-2 victory over Mexico that clinched a place in the World Cup quarter-finals. He scored two first-half goals and rampaged all over, leading the fight, holding the ball up and helping his team cling on when down to 10 men.

He moved to Borussia Dortmund at 17 years old and then to Madrid at 19 but he still plays in a way that endears itself to an English audience. He is a No 10 for Thomas Tuchel this summer but he is not one who thrives in the pockets, not a classic continental playmaker. He plays like the biggest, strongest, fastest kid in the playground. The one two years above you that you just cannot get near.

There is something so classically English about that style, the in-your-face quality that stands out to viewers of all tastes. It is ‘Roy of the Rovers’ stuff, the ability to just plough through opponents and do it all yourself, like the old comic-book character used to do.

1986 – 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Jude Bellingham scored twice, had three shots on target, made eight dribbles and won 10 duels last night.

He was the first player to produce all of those numbers in a FIFA World Cup knockout match since 🇦🇷 Diego Maradona in the 1986 semi-final vs Belgium.

Footsteps. pic.twitter.com/kExN9OftJv

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 6, 2026

Against Mexico, he dribbled, fought and scored, and when England needed to dig deep, he was the target man for Jordan Pickford’s long balls forward.

He is stationed higher up the pitch at this tournament than he was at Euro 2024 but, ironically, it appears to be getting him more involved. Although he is positioned just behind Harry Kane this summer, and therefore less likely to get on the ball in deep areas and drag the team up the pitch with his dribbling, it seems to be a question of timing, of doing what he does best, when the team need it.

There can be no better example of those traits than when he put England 2-0 up at the Azteca, with two goals in just 98 seconds — or 25 seconds of actual game time. Kane talked about ‘hero moments’ after he himself scored twice against DR Congo in the last 32, but this time it was Bellingham showing he can do things few others can.

For his first goal, the threat came out of nowhere. As England advanced down the right, he meandered towards the box, meaning Roberto Alvarado could simply catch up to him and follow him. But the Mexico No 25 was not prepared for the burst into the area as soon as Bukayo Saka started to go at his man.

Bellingham shows the kind of drive that Alvarado is simply not expecting and it allows him to arrive in the box completely free to meet Saka’s cross, with Kane having dragged his marker to the near post.

As Bellingham and Kane celebrated with the Madrid player’s trademark arms outstretched pose, they could not have imagined what was about to follow. From the kick-off, England pounced on Erik Lira, with Elliot Anderson and Anthony Gordon robbing the ball in the Mexico half. Bellingham received it from Gordon and made an unselfish pass to Kane, but continued his run into the box.

Many would have expected Kane to shoot, but he put the ball across for Bellingham, who was again arriving at the right time to make the difference, thanks to that run.

Aside from the goals, Bellingham’s night was all about his ability to win the ball, fight to keep it and then get his team up the pitch with a powerful yet graceful burst.

One example that came not long after his goals helped cement the idea, relatively early in the game, that this was a memorable performance. He gave you the impression that he would just not be beaten, that he could not be knocked off the ball.

England were still holding off the Mexico fightback in the moments after Bellingham’s second goal when he battled for a loose ball and held off four players before laying it off, taking the sting out of the situation.

There was another example in the 51st minute when he controlled a high ball, protected it from four Mexico players, turned and surged towards the area.

Jarell Quansah was sent off soon after that and it was suddenly a very different game for England, and certainly for Bellingham. It was Tuchel’s side who struck first after the red card, of course, and Bellingham played his role in that, acting as protector before Kane’s penalty, holding onto the ball and drawing the attention of the Mexico players, allowing Kane to prepare.

After that, certainly after Mexico’s penalty to make it 3-2, it was all hands to the pump for England. Bellingham fulfilled two very different roles; a last-ditch defensive presence, blocking off spaces, getting in the way of crosses and making clearances, and a tremendously strong, skilful target man to aim for in the absence of careful possession.

After Tuchel brought off Anderson and Nico O’Reilly and replaced them with Djed Spence and Dan Burn with 15 minutes of normal time to go, any pretence of England trying to keep the ball completely vanished. There would be little attempt to do anything other than dig in, but Bellingham’s skill set lends itself to that, too. When Kane went off late on, his lack of energy making him a fairly static out ball, Bellingham kept going strong alongside Kane’s replacement, Morgan Rogers, and there was a spell in injury time when they helped the seconds tick away by battling near the Mexico corner flag.

Even the more disappointing elements of Bellingham’s performance lent themselves to the kind of in-your-face, all-action approach that has always appealed to England fans. Often, making up for your mistake with a dramatic intervention gets more plaudits than subtly doing your job properly in the first place, and Bellingham benefited from that.

He did, after all, switch off at the set piece when Mexico brought it back to 2-1 and reignited their night. When the ball dropped to Julian Quinones, Bellingham was stood watching.

Worse still, he did it again just before half-time, with England really under the cosh, but he did react quickly to get back and hook the ball away to safety, just at the very moment Cesar Montes was about to put it in and make it 2-2.

Had that happened, there is no telling how the game would have ended up, but the record shows that he made a very obvious, very telling intervention at a crucial moment.

BBC commentator Guy Mowbray noted how he received “the hero treatment from his team-mates”. “So he should,” added co-commentator Alan Shearer, “because Montes should not be free in that area.”

There was also an ill-judged shot from the halfway line in injury time after he had done brilliantly to take the ball down on his chest, which hardly felt like the time or the place, although if being generous, you could say it would have been an incredible way to seal a World Cup hat-trick.

At half-time, England assistant Anthony Barry remarked on how ‘every minute felt like the 90th minute’ in such a tense match. The second half felt like the 100th minute, or indeed the 103rd minute, which it ended up running to.

England had to hold on with 10 men for nearly 50 minutes of a truly thrilling half, and it was a night when everybody on the pitch at the final whistle played a huge part. Pickford made a string of saves, punches and catches, the defenders dug in and the midfielders plugged the gaps.

Bellingham did everything, not just in that spell but throughout the 90 minutes. It could be a performance that is talked about in England for generations.