The 2026 World Cup represents something Jude Bellingham has been thinking about since he first pulled on an England shirt. He was composed but raw in Qatar in 2022 — a teenager who played with confidence beyond his years but was ultimately part of a squad that ran out of steam at the quarter-final stage. He then arrived at Euro 2024 as the most hyped player in the tournament and delivered moments of genuine brilliance, including an extraordinary overhead kick to save England in the last 16. But the tournament ended in defeat in the final to Spain, and that wound still sits there. Going into North America in 2026, Bellingham has unfinished business and the means to settle it.
A difficult club season that built character
Bellingham's 2025-26 campaign at Real Madrid was not the seamless extension of his debut season at the club. Competition for places increased, injuries disrupted his rhythm in the autumn months, and there were stretches where his output did not match the individual standards he had set in the previous year. Real Madrid still won trophies, and Bellingham contributed — but the relentless dominance of his first 12 months in the Spanish capital was not replicated. For some players, that kind of challenging spell chips away at confidence. For Bellingham, the evidence suggests it does the opposite. He has arrived at England's pre-tournament training base looking sharp, motivated, and with a clarity of purpose that those around the squad have commented on publicly.
Gareth Southgate's successor trusts him completely
England's current manager has made it clear that Bellingham is central to everything they want to do in this tournament. His ability to arrive late into the box, score in big moments, and set the tempo when England have the ball makes him a genuinely difficult player to plan against. The question of where precisely he operates — whether as a number 10, a box-to-box midfielder, or something in between — is one the coaching staff will fine-tune based on the first group game. But the priority is getting him on the pitch, in rhythm, and trusted to express himself.
Can England finally win it?
England's World Cup record since 1966 reads like a study in tournament underachievement — near misses, penalty exits, and games that slipped away when the pressure came on. This squad, though, has a different feel to those that came before. There is a blend of genuine top-level experience and emerging talent that few previous England generations have had. Bellingham at the centre of it, fully fit and motivated, makes them a realistic contender rather than a hopeful one. The expectation is enormous. The belief inside the camp, by all accounts, matches it.
World Cup context: Jude Bellingham, 22, Real Madrid. England squad confirmed for 2026 World Cup. Previous tournaments: 2022 World Cup (quarter-final), Euro 2024 (runner-up). Tournament status: fully fit, expected to start.
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