Real Madrid superstar Jude Bellingham has more than lived up to his billing at the 2026 World Cup, leading England by example with several heroic performances against Croatia, Panama, and now, his best of them all, Mexico.
Bellingham did his best Diego Armanda Maradona impression at the Azteca, scoing a rapid fire brace in the first half in the span of less than 100 seconds to practically will the Three Lions to victory. Without those goals and his subsequent clearance in the six yard box, England would have almost certainly lost to an incredibly game Mexico side that seemed possessed in front of their fans.
But nobody is ready for Bellingham, who made the slights from Thomas Tuchel and the inane takes from a few miscreants in the British media that he should be on the bench a far thing of the past. Jude has been one of the MVPs of the World Cup this year, just as he was one of the best players of the last European Championships.
Jude Bellingham must tread carefully
Ahead of a massive reunion against his old Borussia Dortmund teammate and close friend Erling Haaland, who just scored a crazy brace of his own to knock out Jude's Real Madrid teammate Vinicius Junior, Bellingham has to be careful he does not end England's dream early.
Because not only does he need to be great against Norway to help the Three Lions advance past the World Cup underdogs, but he also needs to make sure he does not get suspended. Because if he gets a yellow card before the semifinals reset, he will be out of the semifinal matchup, which will put England against an opponent potentially even tougher than Norway in Spain - the same foe that topped England at the Euros in 2024.
A Jude Bellingham yellow card and suspension would completely flip the script in the worst way possible for the England national team with how important he is all around as a defender, creator, progressor, and, of course as we saw against the Mexican national team, goal scorer.
So if England are fortunate enough to be in command, taking Jude off for extra rest and protection, as much as he would hate it, may be for the best. And while Jude is not a player who likes to take his foot off the gas for any reason, he will have to tread carefully in this quarterfinal.
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