Harry Maguire was dominant. Bukayo Saka wondrous. Raheem Sterling on the scoresheet again. But in England’s 6-2 World Cup win over Iran, one man stood head and shoulders above the rest.
He was only 14 when the Three Lions made the World Cup semi-final in Russia four and a half years ago, but in Al-Rayyan Jude Bellingham established himself as a key member of England’s starting XI. With his wonderful headed opener, he became just the second teenager to score for the Three Lions at a World Cup, after Michael Owen in 1998.
The 19-year-old said in an interview before the game that he was saving his first goal for a “special occasion” and his words came to fruition when England needed to find a breakthrough. Gareth Southgate’s side had started positively but found their rhythm disrupted after a sickening head injury to Alireza Beiranvand.
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Iran were happy to settle in and make niggly fouls when they could. Until the breakthrough came. Bellingham showed the masterful timing of Frank Lampard to break into the box, and then leapt highest to place a brilliant header into the top corner. But his performance was so complete aside from the goal.
Four years ago in Russia, England had a midfield of Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard. Now they boast two players worth over £100 million in Declan Rice and Bellingham, who started alongside Mason Mount. It’s a marked improvement, and the teenager’s progression to the first team has come at the perfect time.
Last summer he was still learning, a student experiencing his first major tournament. Kalvin Phillips and Rice showed him what it took to play in these sorts of matches, while Southgate slowly eased him in. Given his talent at the time, he could have started for England. But having seen pressure ruin players’ careers too early in the past, Southgate instead kept him sheltered, away from the spotlight.
Eventually, Bellingham’s ability became impossible to hide any longer. At some stage, a talent of this magnitude has to be thrust into the spotlight, and in Qatar he is being given his opportunity to shine. As with Wayne Rooney 18 years ago, Bellingham didn’t just look like he belonged at this level - he was the best player on the entire pitch.
His passing was exemplary, his movement was graceful and he managed to cover every blade of grass. Even at such a young age, he brought such composure to England’s midfield, on a day when the Three Lions needed to find a spark to break down a dogged Iranian defence, and the teenager produced it.
“Told you I was saving it, didn't I?!” he laughed in his post-match interview with the BBC.
“Really good day for us, six goals in a World Cup game so - really impressive regardless of who you play against. I think they came out really well, really strong and hard to break down. We didn’t have anything clear for quite a while. I think with more goals we opened them up, but the start was tough and we had to dig it out even when we weren't getting it all our way. It’s important we’ve learnt how to create chances against those kinds of sides, but we are a bit disappointed with the two goals to be honest.”
“To be honest I thought it had missed and it took ages to loop into the goal, I told you I wanted to try and score more goals for Dortmund and for England last year. To get in the right position, it was a brilliant ball from Shaw and I was just there to flick it away and it was a really proud moment for me.”
It was a day when Southgate relied on his trusted players. They all delivered, some of them on this World Cup stage for the very first time. But if England are to do better than they did last summer, they need to have an X-factor. In Jude Bellingham, they might just have found it.
