England head coach Thomas Tuchel addressed these contradictions after the 1:3 friendly loss against Senegal:
"When Bellingham smiles, he wins everyone over. But sometimes you see his anger, his hunger, and his fire – and that manifests in a way that can seem somewhat repulsive to some, for example, to my mother when she's watching on TV."
Tuchel's statement caused a stir in England at the time, which is why he quickly backtracked and emphasized that he had chosen the word "repulsive" unintentionally.
What Tuchel might have meant with his statement nonetheless? Bellingham's will to win sometimes verges on obsession. This manifests in snapping at teammates or intense discussions with referees.
Not despite, but because of his ego
In short: Bellingham is said to have a particularly large ego.
Many great athletes have this – yet it's part of what makes them special. The "Guardian" compares Bellingham in this context to Novak Djokovic.
"He too can smile and win over an audience, but can also turn into the villain everyone boos, or become a formidable, unstoppable machine as soon as he senses the crowd is against him," writes the British medium.
Ich habe mich ein bisschen wie der Sündenbock gefühlt.
Having the crowd against him is nothing new for Bellingham. The same applies to the media. The media sentiment after EURO 2024 particularly affected him.
"I often lost my smile playing for England afterwards," he recounted in autumn 2024. Bellingham explained that he had been excessively criticized. "I felt a bit like the scapegoat. Maybe I also felt a little bit sorry for myself."
Club Legend at 16
The lost European Championship final against Spain was probably the first truly big setback for him – in a career that had, until then, only known one direction: steeply upwards.
At 16, he made his professional debut for Birmingham City and already in his debut season, he became a regular starter in the tough Championship (41 appearances, four goals, two assists). After his first professional year, he moved to Dortmund for what was then a record transfer fee for an U17 player (€30 million).
Bellingham's number 22 has since been retired by Birmingham. Jude had become an "iconic figure" at the club.
Champions League Winner at 20
At BVB, the success story continued. Settling-in difficulties? He doesn't know them. A steady development followed – game by game, season by season. In his third season, he was a key player, third captain, and Player of the Season: Bellingham had definitively outgrown the Bundesliga.
For the logical next step, there were only a handful of options: Back to England or to Spain? It turned out to be the latter. And he started incredibly successfully: because again, Bellingham had no settling-in difficulties. In his first season at Real Madrid, he immediately won the Champions League and league double. He also collected the "Player of the Season" award.
The self-pity mentioned earlier stopped already in autumn 2024 – despite two not necessarily easy years (without titles) at Real. However, it took longer for him to win back the fans' favor, namely at the latest by the 2026 World Cup round of 16 against Mexico.
Like Zidane - but different
The greatest players deliver in the greatest games. A football adage that Bellingham embodies like few other contemporary players.
Lionel Messi is one of them, Kylian Mbappé too – but both are attackers. A better comparison would be another absolute football legend: Zinedine Zidane. The Frenchman never delivered unbelievable scoring numbers à la Messi or Ronaldo. But in the big games, he delivered.
Zidane had magical moments on the biggest stage, captivating with incredible elegance. Bellingham is less associated with this elegance. He is fundamentally not "flashy." To compare the two in terms of playing style would, of course, be nonsense.
It is much more the way Bellingham transforms into a better version of himself in the big moments that is reminiscent of "Zizou."
He shines in these moments less with absolutely outstanding technique or pure footballing magic. He does it with his mentality, with that special presence on the pitch, with perfect runs, and with ice-cold finishing quality.
"That's pure mentality – you could bottle it and sell it," Tuchel said about his team after the quarter-final victory over Norway. The German could have said the same thing about Bellingham. Few players embody this like Jude Bellingham.
A Game-Changer Everywhere
Harry Kane was not only in the spotlight ahead of the quarter-final against Norway, but already before the tournament. But the idea that England's success depends solely on the Bayern star was and is an obvious mistake.
Tuchel's substitutions against the Vikings suggested how truly important Bellingham is for the team. Because in two different substitution phases, he tried to correct the 23-year-old's position, which had been altered by the Rice substitution, back towards the attack.
Bellingham dropped back to the number eight role. "That, however, puts him a few meters deeper, and that's not ideal for us – I want him as high up the pitch as possible," Tuchel explained.
Because in this area, he possesses his greatest strength: runs from deep into dangerous areas. His former coach at Real, Carlo Ancelotti, already recognized this: "He's spectacular at it. He gets into the box like a motorcycle."
Cycle header pic.twitter.com/hpzfaLVDHN
— Troll Football Videos (@TFTBLMEDIA) July 11, 2026
The Complete Package
"He is a true professional and a tireless worker," Carlo Ancelotti said last year on Gary Lineker's podcast about England's number ten.
Because although Bellingham clearly emphasizes his role as a number ten more offensively at this World Cup, he is inherently a box-to-box midfielder, though even that would be an understatement.
Bellingham stands out in several stats: No other player offered to receive a pass more often (431 times, second place: 339). Furthermore, he made the most sprints of all Englishmen, had the most touches in the final third, the second-most tackles, and the second-most dribbles.
In a nutshell: His mentality and ego can decide the game both defensively and offensively.
Tuchel has therefore not only nominated the best player (along with Kane) in Jude Bellingham, but also the right one.
