Real Madrid superstar Jude Bellingham was crucial to the club winning the Champions League in 2023/24, but a lot of factors, including Kylian Mbappe's arrival and poor coaching decisions, have blighted Jude's light at the Santiago Bernabeu. On the pitch, those who actually pay attention can see he is still the same great player for Madrid, actively winning possession and working hard to progress the ball and create chances, but he is being let down by those around him.
On the England national team, Bellingham has to deal with a lot of bizarre critics, too, but he answers them all with grace, because whenever the manager actually builds things for him to succeed, the hero of their last European Championship Final run (who can forget THAT bicycle kick?) ends up delivering in a huge way.
Bellingham was magnificent in England's 4-2 win over Croatia and his former Real Madrid teammate and midfield hero Luka Modric, scoring a brilliant solo goal and nearly adding a couple of more from sheer nothingness.
Jude Bellingham is the man of the hour
England international Harry Maguire, one of Thomas Tuchel's controversial snubs for the 2026 World Cup squad, had a lot of praise for Bellingham, and he asserted that while people have debated Morgan Rogers starting over him, Maguire stated that Jude proved unequivocally he is the man for the moment and must always start no matter what.
The Manchester United center back said of the former Borussia Dortmund center midfielder, via Madrid Xtra, "Jude Bellingham has to play in that England team. You can fit Rogers elsewhere, off the bench. Tournaments are decided by moments and he creates moments by himself. The big games are decided by split seconds and we saw it in the Euros, England would be out vs Slovakia if it weren't for Jude. I expect a big tournament from him."
Harry Maguire could not have sung Jude Bellingham's praises any better, and Real Madrid themselves have seen Jude's moments save them plenty of times. In his first season, he dominated El Clasico and scored an insane winning goal against Barcelona at the beginning of the season that will live on in history.
Real Madrid will have to think of better ways to harness Jude for those moments, and that will be the big task for Jose Mourinho to do what Alvaro Arbeloa and Xabi Alonso (particularly the latter, he really had no clue) failed to with Jude. In the meantime, Jude will continue to cook in the World Cup.
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