Jude Bellingham was already a hero for the England national team at the 2024 European Championships, scoring a last gasp bicycle kick to save their bacon in the knockouts while consistently being the country's best overall player, including in a tough loss to a Spain juggernaut in the Final.
Well, two years later, Bellingham, despite Real Madrid falling apart and mismanaging him, has been even better for the Three Lions. With back to back braces in the World Cup knockout stages to match marks last set by Diego Armando Maradona and Pele - two literal GOATs of the game - Bellingham is now on six goals and shattering even more records at the tournament of tournaments.
WIth Bellingham and Harry Kane becoming the first duo ever to have six goals each at the same World Cup, people are starting to talk more and more about Jude on an all time scale, even though the man is still only 23 years of age.
Jude Bellingham is aiming to be the GOAT
And the latest huge name in football to start that talk is an England GOAT himself, Gary Lineker, who is now openly wondering where Bellingham lands on the scale of greatest English players ever and if he is on a trajectory to seal himself as such in the future.
Lineker said of Jude on The Rest is Football on Netflix, via Madrid Xtra, “I think there's really a chance that Jude Bellingham could be England’s greatest ever footballer. At this age, to be doing what he's doing, grabbing England by the scruff and getting them over the line, that is a superstar reaction.”
Now, Gary Lineker is not one for hyperbole, and as a World Cup legend of his country, he knows what greatness at this level looks like, so for him to start thinking about where Jude Bellingham could land in GOAT conversations one day for England is a real sign that everyone needs to be thinking along those lines.
Of course, many England and Real Madrid fans have been whispering about this within their ranks, highly impressed what he is doing. And he has always been great, going back to Borussia Dortmund when he almost carried them to the Bundesliga title or in his first season at Real Madrid when he captured both big trophies - and nearly the Pichichi, too.
What truly impresses people like Lineker the most, though, is that attitude and responsibility. England have had a lot of great players these last 30 years but never got over the line, and part of that is because, with the possible exception of David Beckham, they did not have someone who delivered like this in the clutch and pulled everyone else up. Jude is different, even from Beckham.
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