Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe are both Real Madrid teammates, but they have a bit of a rivalry going on, including at the 2026 World Cup. Both of their nations are vying for the World Cup trophy, and whlie England have not won it in 60 years, Mbappe already as a title and another final appearance to his name.
Mbappe has reached 20 World Cup goals in this tournament and is neck and neck with Lionel Messi for both the all time record and the Golden Boot this year. But Jude Bellingham has scored six goals of his own from midfield despite doing everything else in the middle of the park.
His latest exploit, after scoring two in the Azteca to lift England over an incredible Mexico, was another clutch brace to upend his former Borussia Dortmund teammate and close friend Erling Haaland in a gutsy 2-1 win over, again, a very game Norway side.
Jude Bellingham can break records, too
The six goals from Bellingham matches the six goals from striker Harry Kane this World Cup, and it means that England have now become the first country in the history of the World Cup to have two players with six goals in the same tournament.
Rivaldo and Ronaldo Nazario scored five each in 2002 for that insane Brazil side - the last one to lift the cup - and everyone thought it would be Kylian Mbappe and reigning Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele to get to six and six together first.
But Dembele is sitting at five after his goal against Morocco and Mbappe is at seven after his opener in that same quarterfinal. With his brace to go from four to six and match Kane, Jude Bellingham has confirmed England's place in history.
Harry Kane and Jude have indeed been the great equalizers for England, because even though Mexico and Norway honestly looked better as a team for much of the match - at least in regulation for Norway - England were the ultimate winners because of these two. And in the knockouts, just like at the 2024 European Championships, it has mostly been Bellingham responsible for the big moments.
Maybe it sounded crazy to compare Jude's impact to Diego Armando Maradona's when he equalized the great Argentinian's mark of a clutch brace at the Azteca from 40 years ago, but with this latest pair of goals agianst Norway, Bellingham is starting to build an insane legacy of his own internationally.
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