The 21-year-old is earning a reputation for showing up in the biggest of moments and providing late magic to inspire both club and country
He may have only just turned 21, but the legend of Jude Bellingham continues to grow after his dramatic, 95th-minute overhead kick saved England from Euro 2024 embarrassment against Slovakia. The Real Madrid midfielder hasn't been at his best in Germany so far, but that will all be forgotten if he keeps providing moments like his most recent intervention in Gelsenkirchen.
Bellingham has constantly delivered in big moments over the past 12 months, providing game-winning goals and assists to keep Madrid on track towards their La Liga-Champions League double. The ex-Borussia Dortmund man certainly seems to possess the much-discussed 'clutch gene', with his penchant for late interventions running all the way back his days as a teenager at Birmingham City.
As such, GOAL hastaken a look at Bellingham's most clutch moments in his young career so far…
Getty ImagesBirmingham bedlam
It didn't take long for Bellingham to make an impact for his boyhood club. The Birmingham academy talent had impressed on his league debut against Swansea City in August 2019, and when Jefferson Montero went down with an injury in the first half of the following week's game against Stoke City, Bellingham was called upon from the bench.
Making his first appearance at St. Andrews, Bellingham quickly went about showing the Blues' faithful just why he was earning first-team minutes at the age of 16. Birmingham trailed after an hour, but equalised through Lukas Jutkiewicz in the 73rd minute. Then, three minutes later, Bellingham struck , as his deflected strike wrong-footed a helpless Adam Federici, who could only watch as the ball trickled into the net.
That match-winning moment kick-started a campaign that saw Bellingham become the hottest property within the Championship, and nine months later, he was en route to Germany to join Borussia Dortmund, while his No.22 shirt was being retired by his boyhood club.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesDortmund delight
While not always deployed in outright attacking positions for Dortmund, Bellingham still managed to pop up with timely goals for the Bundesliga giants. One of his most memorabe came in January 2022, when Bellingham helped turn around a fixture against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Marco Rose's side still had feint title hopes at the time, and needed a win against a struggling Eintracht side to keep themselves back into the picture. But with Dortmund trailing 2-1 in the 87th minute, hopes of a victory seemed slim at best.
That was until Bellingham rose to meet Thomas Meunier's teasing cross, and nodded home past a frozen goalkeeper. Mahmoud Dahoud then netted the winner two minutes later, but that wouldn't have been possible without the England midfielder's intervention.
GettyMaking his mark on Madrid
Getafe played well at the Bernabeu on September 2. They may have been without their most apparent attacking threat in deadline-day loan signing Mason Greenwood, but Jose Bordalas' side deployed an intelligent set up, and spent most of the afternoon frustrating Madrid.
In stoppage-time, though, Bellingham provided. His goal came from another signature late run into the penalty area, as the €103 million (£88m/$110m) summer signing gambled on Lucas Vazquez's fizzed effort and darted into the box. The goalkeeper could only parry Vazquez's attempt, and Bellingham was left with an easy finish from close-range for his fifth goal in his first four games for Los Blancos.
Getty ImagesChampions League late show
Madrid were poor against Union Berlin in their opening Champions League game of 2023-24. Carlo Ancelotti's side struggled to break down a dogged low block, and seemed poised to settle for a disappointing point to begin their quest for a 15th European Cup. Then, Bellingham showed up.
His goal came via another late run into the box that was timed perfectly to meet a ricochet with the goal gaping. He may have received something of a fortunate bounce, but this wasn't a goal of luck. Rather, it was the result of finisher's instincts as Bellingham wasted little time in making an impact on the continental stage for his new club.