From 'repulsive' to 'world-class' - Jude Bellingham's bounce back to being indispensable for England at 2026 World Cup

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Jude Bellingham has lit up the 2026 World Cup with a series of critical performances to help drive England into the semi-finals, where they will take on defending champions Argentina. However, his path under manager Thomas Tuchel has not always been linear.

'Maybe he doesn't know what it's like' - Bellingham fires back at Tuchel

Video credit: SNTV

Tuchel made waves in June 2025 when he said that Bellingham's attitude at times could be viewed as "repulsive" - something that he later apologised for.

Despite that apology and his consistent insistence that Bellingham was a key cog in his team, Tuchel then dropped another bombshell to English fans as he dropped the Real Madrid midfielder in October.

This came after further comments in June, when Tuchel said that Bellingham had a fight on his hand to make it into the starting XI for the World Cup.

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It led to some speculation as to whether Bellingham may not make it on the plane to North America.

Bellingham and Tuchel even bickered after the game against Norway, despite the German hailing his midfielder as "world-class".

The (bumpy) comeback

Even after Tuchel brought Bellingham back into the fold in November 2025, it wasn't plain sailing.

Firstly, Tuchel was effusive in his praise of Bellingham's attitude around his dropping.

"There was a decision to be made. [Jude] accepted the decision, and he did what he does best," Tuchel said at the time.

"He competed on the highest level, and he showed that he deserves and has to be in the squad. So that’s why he is in the squad.

"Amazing reaction, performance-wise, amazing reaction. There is no doubt about that, he is still young.

"If you look at his career, it feels sometimes he’s 26, 28 but he’s still a very young player and he has our full support.

"We want to provide a stable environment for him that he can show the level of performance that helps us to be a better team."

However, after England beat Albania 2-0 to finish World Cup qualifying with a perfect record, Tuchel was critical of Bellingham's frustrated reaction to being substituted.

"That is a bad impression. It should be about the collective. What we did in camp is all about the collective," the German said.

But yet, eight months later, Bellingham is at the World Cup, and he is shining - despite their exchange of words via on-pitch interviews this weekend.

Why Bellingham is so important

Bellingham is having a tournament for the ages, there are no two ways about it.

So far, Bellingham has six goals and one assist at the World Cup. Only France's Kylian Mbappe and Argentina's Lionel Messi have more than his seven total goal involvements.

Bellingham is also level with England team-mate Harry Kane, as well as Norway's Erling Haaland, and Mbappe's France team-mate Ousmane Dembele.

Jude Bellingham's touch map at the 2026 World Cup

Image credit: Opta

His form is a marked improvement on what Bellingham has done in previous international tournaments.

Across the 2021 and 2024 European Championships, as well as the 2022 World Cup, Bellingham had three goals and two assists across his 15 games, 12 of which were as a starter. In just six games at this World Cup, he has cleared that tally.

In fact, it gets even more impressive when you look at the numbers that England's male players have historically put up at both the World Cup and the Euros.

Bellingham and Kane are already at the top of list, albeit with the caveat of the extra game that the 2026 edition has brought.

When it comes to considering Bellingham, it is worth remembering that Kane has scored two of his goals from the penalty spot.

Player	Team	Tournament Year	Goals+Assists	Goals	Assists
Jude Bellingham	England	2026	7	6	1
Harry Kane	England	2026	7	6	1
Gary Lineker	England	1986	6	6	0
Harry Kane	England	2018	6	6	0
Geoff Hurst	England	1966	5	4	1
Harry Kane	England	2022	5	2	3

*Opta data only begins from the 1966 World Cup. Wayne Rooney (2004) and Alan Shearer (1996) both recorded five goal involvements at European Championships.

When he's at his best, Bellingham is a unicorn of a player - a dynamic, box-to-box, goalscoring No. 10 who can seemingly do it all.

For most of the 2025/26 season, for both club and country, Bellingham hasn't been at his best, but he has clearly found form in this tournament.

The view from Spain

And that's something that has surprised and confused people in Spain. Nacho Ortiz Escobar of Eurosport Spain explains.

"The reaction here in Spain has been to wonder why he is performing so well for England compared to what we saw at Real Madrid this season," Escobar said.

"In the England team, he resembles the Bellingham of his first season at Real Madrid. Furthermore, some Spanish media outlets have been promoting the idea that Bellingham can already be considered a Ballon d’Or contender, even though England have not yet won the World Cup!"

When asked whether there are any theories into this improvement in form, Escobar admits there aren't any deep, complicated theories, and it might be a simple explanation.

"There are no grand theories," he added. "Quite simply, we believe that Bellingham has been a victim of Real Madrid’s poor team performance this season, something that has impacted all players.

"It's worth saying that he has struggled to gel with some of his midfield team-mates – such as Aurelien Tchouameni, Federico Valverde and Kylian Mbappe – when he’s been called upon to play in an attacking role, but we need more evidence of this to say it is a true issue, especially after what we saw in the first season."

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