Jude Bellingham

Jude Bellingham (born June 29, 2003, Stourbridge, England) is a football (soccer) player who is a midfielder for the England national football team and for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid. He ranked third in the 2024 FIFA Ballon d’Or poll, marking him as one of the top players of the current generation. As of August 2025 he is also the third youngest player to have represented England in international football, after Theo Walcott and Wayne Rooney, and the youngest to have reached 50 caps. Bellingham was England’s top scorer in the 2026 FIFA World Cup with seven goals—the most by an English player and by a midfielder in a single World Cup. He won the Bronze Boot (awarded to the tournament’s third highest goalscorer) for his goal tally combined with an assist. Bellingham played a crucial role in his team’s progress through the World Cup to win the bronze medal, England’s best finish since winning the title in 1966.

Early life

Jude Bellingham was born to Denise Bellingham, of African descent, and Mark Bellingham, who has Irish and English ancestry. Mark is a former footballer who played non-league (semi-professional and amateur) tier football from 1994 to 2019 and scored more than 700 goals. Jude’s younger brother Jobe Bellingham is also a professional footballer who currently plays for the club Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga (German football league).

Jude Bellingham studied in Birmingham at the Priory School, a private institution with facilities that included a full-sized football pitch. Growing up, his role models were English players Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard and French footballer Zinedine Zidane. He continued his studies while playing football, completing a BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) certificate in Sport in 2021 from Loughborough College, England.

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As a kid, Bellingham joined the Stourbridge Juniors in 2009 before moving to the Birmingham City football club’s youth team in the Under-8 (U8) category in 2010. He rose rapidly through the age group ranks and was chosen for the U18 team by the time he was 14 and the U23 team a few months before turning 16. He was listed among the 50 most exciting teenage English footballers in 2019 by the football magazine FourFourTwo. Bellingham also traveled and trained with the Birmingham City senior side and participated in warmups during the 2018–19 season. In July 2019 he accepted a two-year scholarship from Birmingham City’s senior team despite attracting interest from some of Europe’s biggest football clubs, including FC Barcelona, FC Bayern Munich, and Manchester City FC.

Club career

Bellingham became the youngest player ever to play for Birmingham City when he debuted on August 6, 2019, a record that still stands as of August 2025. He was just 16 years and 38 days old, 101 days younger than English footballer Trevor Francis, who had held the record since 1970. Bellingham was praised by football experts for his composure on the pitch and close control of the ball during the team’s 3–0 defeat against the Portsmouth football club. Bellingham scored his first topflight goal less than a month after his debut during a 2–1 win over Stoke City. As of August 2025 he remains Birmingham City’s youngest ever goal scorer. He went on to score 4 goals in his 44 games for the club and was named EFL (English Football League) Young Player of the Month for November 2019. At the end of the 2019–20 season, he was named EA Sports Young Player of the Season and LFE (League Football Education) Championship Apprentice of the Year.

Bellingham signed with German club Borussia Dortmund for £25 million (about $32 million) at the start of the 2020–21 season. He scored a goal in his first match for the club during the DFB-Pokal knockout tournament (also called the German Cup) against MSV Duisburg on September 14, 2020. He was named the Bundesliga Rookie of the Month for September 2020. The next month he made his UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) Champions League debut in a game against Italian football club Lazio. Bellingham scored 24 goals and provided 25 assists in 132 games for Dortmund, though his only trophy with the club was the German Cup in 2020–21. He was named Bundesliga Player of the Season for 2022–23.

In June 2023 Bellingham was signed by Spanish club Real Madrid for £88.5 million (about $113 million at the time). He made an immediate impact, scoring four goals and an assist in his first three games for the club; in August 2023 he became the first English player to win the La Liga Player of the Month award. His brace (two goals) in an October 2023 win against arch-rivals FC Barcelona drew praise from then–Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, who said:

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“He seems like a veteran, the goal to level it totally changed the game.”

Bellingham scored 14 goals in his first 15 games for Real Madrid. His stellar start was cut short when he suffered a dislocated shoulder in November 2023. He returned to the pitch just a few weeks after getting injured and played while wearing shoulder protection. Real Madrid won the La Liga title, the UEFA Champions League, and the Spanish Super Cup in his first year with the team. Bellingham also won several individual awards—the Laureus World Sports Breakthrough of the Year award, the La Liga Player of the Season award, and the Champions League Young Player of the Season award. He ranked third in the 2024 Ballon d’Or poll behind winner and Manchester City player Rodri and his Real Madrid teammate Vinícius Júnior. In December 2024 he finished third in the poll for the Best FIFA Men’s Player won by Vinícius Júnior, with Rodri in second place.

In his second season with Real Madrid he helped the club win the UEFA Super Cup and was part of the team for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. But he continued to be troubled by his shoulder injury. He opted to undergo shoulder surgery in July 2025 which led him to miss the start of the 2025–26 La Liga season.

International career

Bellingham made his Under-15 (U15) debut for England against Turkey in December 2016, aged just 13. He scored one goal in eight appearances for the side. In July 2018, just after his 15th birthday, he was picked for the U16 side to play a game against Croatia. In September 2019 he played for the U17 side, and in September 2020 he became the youngest player to debut with the England U21 men’s team, a record that still stands as of September 2025.

On November 12, 2020, Bellingham made his international senior team debut in a friendly match between England and Ireland. He was part of the squad that reached the finals of the 2020 Euro Championship and lost to Italy on penalties. He scored his first international goal during a 2022 FIFA World Cup group match against Iran; England lost to France in the quarterfinals of the tournament. Bellingham scored two goals during England’s Euro 2024 campaign and assisted in the team’s only goal in the 2–1 loss against Spain in the final.

Bellingham was handed the England number 10 shirt, usually given to the best attacking midfielder in a squad, ahead of the 2026 World Cup. He played a prominent role in England’s 4–2 win against Croatia in the opening group-stage match for both teams, contributing a goal. His performance in England’s 2–0 defeat of Panama was widely praised—he scored one of the two goals and set up the second, scored by Harry Kane. He scored twice to help England defeat Mexico 3–2 in the round of 16, and twice again in the quarterfinal match against Norway. His double sent England to the semifinal but the team’s campaign for a second World Cup title ended with a 2–1 defeat to Lionel Messi’s Argentina. He scored a stoppage time goal, his seventh, in the third place playoff against France. England won the match 6–4.