Former England and Manchester United full-back Gary Neville had goosebumps watching Jude Bellingham during England’s 2-1 win over Norway in the World Cup 2026 quarter-finals.
Bellingham scored two goals in the match to send the Three Lions through to a semi-final clash with Argentina, bringing his goal tally to six so far.
With 10 goal contributions overall, the Real Madrid star is one of the standout performers in the England team and arguably the only reason they’re still in the tournament.
And following the big win over the Norwegians, Neville has been singing Bellingham’s praises.
A superstar
Speaking to Sky Sports, Neville said: “He has been absolutely sensational.
“Honestly, it gives me goosebumps to watch a performance like that – I don’t think I’ve ever seen an England player have an influence in a tournament like that.
“I was with Gazza [Paul Gascoigne] in 1996, I was with [Wayne] Rooney in 2004, I was with Michael Owen in 1998.
“I watched those things live and I’ve never seen anything like this. This is absolutely exceptional. It’s at the highest level.
“This isn’t England’s next superstar. This is England’s superstar right now. This is happening. You’ve got to recognise this is obviously game-changing.
“You’re performing in a World Cup. You scored six goals. You’ve literally been unbelievable, both in attack and defence.
“You got your team through almost single-handedly with the support of Harry Kane.”
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England’s hero
Neville went on to describe how Bellingham has become an icon of the nation through the World Cup, saying: “He’s 23 years of age. It is absolutely monumental what that lad is doing.
“My daughters love football. They’re 16 and 17 years of age. They absolutely adore him.
“He is a hero. Every kid in England right now is watching this World Cup and they’re thinking they’re Jude Bellingham.
“The impact that he is having on young people in our country, on young people around the world in this country that we’re in, in the US, it honestly is magnificent.
“It comes to a point in your career where you either deliver on the highest stage or you don’t, and your legacy will be determined and defined by that.
“That’s why the great players are the great players.
“That’s why I used to sit at right-back and look up towards the great players that I played with and have so much admiration for them and be grateful and thankful for them, because we were there to serve this type of player that could go and win you the game.
“It’s the hardest thing to do and he thought this was his moment.”
World-class status
Doubts over whether or not Bellingham is truly one of the best players in the world have been cleared up in the eyes of Neville.
He stated: “Everybody’s sort of looking at him. Everybody’s questioning whether he is world class.
“Even I, going into this tournament, thought that Harry Kane was our only true world-class player and that we had Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham who just sat that bit below – where we thought, ‘No, you’ve just got to do a bit more yet. There’s a bit more for you to do.’
“He’s just gone and done it. He’s just gone and climbed that sort of extra step which is a massive step onto what would be that world-class mountain.
“I was talking to Roy Keane and Ian Wright after the game and they said, right now, if you’re watching football, you’re seeing the best midfield player in the world – and that’s not because he’s scoring goals, by the way.
“We don’t tend to sort of give flowers too much for the goals. We know we need them, but it’s the other bits around it that go to make the complete player that gives him the edge.”
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Tuchel trouble
Bellingham notably disagreed with Tuchel’s critical analysis of England’s performance against Norway in an interview, which was something Neville enjoyed seeing.
The former Man United man added: “I really liked it.
“I think when I look back to the previous couple of tournaments, I’m not a great believer in players not doing interviews, particularly when you’re the best players in the team – the reason is that you’re asking other players to do the interviews for you.
“One thing is for certain: an England player has to do interviews after a football match.
“If you’re the guy that’s basically the star player, if you’re the guy that’s going to go and win us the games, I think you’re the guy that’s got to go and speak.
“Jude Bellingham, after every single game in this tournament, has spoken.
“Even after the Ghana draw earlier in the tournament when it wasn’t a great England performance, there was a bit of criticism flying around.
“I think there are only a number of players that can make interviews like that, that can punch back a little bit at the manager. He’s one of them.”
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