The World Is Getting Introduced to Jude Bellingham’s Splendor

The 19-year-old was sensational in England’s last-16 win over Senegal, his value and stature for the Three Lions increasing in their run to the World Cup quarterfinals.

AL KHOR, Qatar — Football these days isn’t supposed to be about individuals anymore. Even in the international game, the pre-tournament clamors for the Premier League’s in-form player de jour are less vociferous than they once were. This is a game of structures and cohesion, the game fully systematized. And yet it does help if a team can turn up an exceptional player, particularly if he hits a tournament in the form of his life.

Jude Bellingham is just 19, but the impact he has had on this England team is already remarkable. When Bellingham left Birmingham City at 17, the club retired his No. 22 shirt in recognition of how brilliant he had been in his 44 games for the club. This was no empty gesture by some lower-league minnow: it was from Birmingham that Trevor Francis joined Nottingham Forest when he became Britain’s first £1 million footballer, and it made no similar consideration for him. It knew how special Bellingham was then—and what he was going to become.

The rest of the world is beginning to find out. As England set up a World Cup quarterfinal against France by beating Senegal 3–0, Bellingham played a starring role. He is an astonishingly complete midfielder, skillful, intelligent and physically imposing. But unlike the likes of, say, Steven Gerrard or even Paul Pogba, who were almost too complete, falling between positions in a modern midfield, he seems entirely at ease whether playing deep or, as against Senegal, in a more advanced role. 

Bellingham was pivotal in England’s 3–0 rout of Senegal in the World Cup round of 16 :: Francisco Seco/AP

“He’s a fantastic player,” England captain Harry Kane said. “He has everything with and without the ball. He presses well, he gets around the pitch, he makes tackles, he can play through balls. He’s really mature for his age.”

England these days plays in a very un-English way, holding possession, slowly working the ball around the defensive line that is either intelligently patient or mind-numbingly sterile, depending on your disposition. Every now and again there is a sudden flurry of passes, which usually involves Phil Foden. For much of the first half Sunday, the injection of pace would lead to a brief flare of threat only for the move to end up back where it started.

For a time, frustration set in and the Senegal press began to cause problems. Jordan Pickford was forced into one sharp save to deny Boualye Dia after Bukayo Saka had lost possession to Ismaïla Sarr. But six minutes before the break, just as Senegal began to look threatening, England struck, largely because there was, finally, some space to attack. The goal was glorious in conception and execution: Luke Shaw to Foden; a flick inside to Kane, dropping deep as he now seems emboldened to; a forward pass to Bellingham, surging forward as Bryan Robson would once have done; and then a low cross for Jordan Henderson to roll in.

“The biggest thing is the mentality,” England manager Gareth Southgate said of Bellingham. “We’ve done a lot of work over the years with young players and youth development, and the thing that makes the difference is mindset, drive, desire to improve and he has all of that. In the first half, Jude—with Hendo—out of possession really got us into the game. We got a bit stuck with the ball and our best chances came turning the ball over.”

Henderson points to Bellingham after his role in setting up England’s opener vs. Senegal :: Hassan Ammar/AP

Having gone behind, Senegal was forced to come out, and that created more space for England to drive into. The second, in first-half injury time, was again superbly constructed, with Bellingham driving forward having won the ball just outside his own box. Foden and Kane split, Bellingham played it to Foden, who laid it off straightaway to Kane in space. The Tottenham striker, a World Cup Golden Boot winner four years ago, had not scored yet in this tournament, his role becoming far more that of a provider. But this was the sort of situation in which he excels, and he lashed his finish past Édouard Mendy to become England’s eighth scorer of the World Cup and pull within one of Wayne Rooney’s national-team record.

Any thought Senegal might come back was extinguished as Saka converted a Foden cross with a deft flick. After a slightly awkward period midway through the first half, this was a ruthless victory. England’s one concern is over Raheem Sterling, who has returned to the U.K. after an armed burglary on his family home. It is not clear whether he will return to Qatar.

It’s a measure of how impressive England was that Senegal conceded more in this game than in its entire victorious Africa Cup of Nations campaign earlier this year. It hadn’t conceded more than two in a competitive match for nine years. 

“There was a big difference between the teams,” Senegal manager Aliou Cissé said, his team coming up one match shy of matching its quarterfinal feat of 20 years ago when Cissé was captain. “We’ve worked for years to be the best African team, but here we were playing one of the best five in the world, and I think you saw the difference.”

When Bellingham was withdrawn with 14 minutes remaining, it was clearly to rest his legs and spare him. There’s a much greater test to come, against France with a semifinal place at stake. And a much bigger stage for the global audience to witness his splendor.