If you needed a reminder of just how good Jude Bellingham is, Saturday night in Rijeka provided it in emphatic fashion. The Real Madrid midfielder was absolutely unstoppable as Thomas Tuchel’s England side dismantled Croatia 7-0 in a UEFA Nations League group stage fixture, and Bellingham was the undisputed architect of the destruction.
What Happened
Given a starting role in an advanced midfield position, the 23-year-old was involved from the very first goal, teeing up Harry Kane to break the deadlock. That was just the warm-up act. Bellingham then got himself on the scoresheet to make it a night to remember, before adding further assists for both Bukayo Saka and Morgan Rogers as England continued to pile it on. In total, Bellingham directly contributed to four of England’s seven goals — one strike and three assists — a return that left statisticians at Sofascore with no choice but to hand him a perfect 10/10 match rating. A flawless score. A performance to match.
Croatia, of course, is not just any opponent — this is the same nation that knocked England out of the 2018 World Cup semi-finals and caused chaos at Euro 2016. The fact that Tuchel’s men ran out 7-0 winners makes the scoreline all the more striking, and Bellingham’s central role in that result makes it a night Madridistas will want to savour too.
What It Means for Real Madrid
From a Real Madrid perspective, seeing Bellingham performing at this level during the international break is equal parts exciting and reassuring. The England man has always carried the potential to be one of the most complete midfielders in world football — a player capable of scoring, creating, pressing, and leading — and performances like this are proof that potential is being fully realised.
Since arriving at the Bernabéu from Borussia Dortmund, Bellingham has shown that he isn’t just a marquee signing built on hype. He’s a genuinely decisive player who elevates everyone around him, and that quality is on full display when he represents his country too. For Carlo Ancelotti — or whoever has been at the helm — having a midfielder who can single-handedly swing a match with both goals and assists is an enormous weapon to have. Very few players in world football can consistently influence games the way Bellingham does at both ends of the pitch.
The timing of this display also matters. International breaks can be frustrating for club fans — you lose your players for a fortnight, worry about injuries, and watch them potentially run themselves into the ground on foreign pitches. But when your star man comes back from the break having earned a 10/10 rating and looking as sharp as ever, it’s hard to complain. If anything, it’s a confidence booster heading into what is always a relentless second phase of the European season.
What’s Next
Bellingham will now return to Madrid following England’s international commitments, with the focus shifting firmly back to club football. Real Madrid’s schedule never stays quiet for long — between La Liga title ambitions, the Copa del Rey, and Champions League duties, there is always something major on the horizon. Having Bellingham firing on all cylinders, with his confidence sky-high after a night like this in Croatia, is exactly the kind of momentum that can carry a team through a gruelling fixture run.
For the Madridista faithful, Saturday was a reminder of something we already knew deep down: when Jude Bellingham is at his best, he is one of the very finest players on the planet. And right now, he belongs to Real Madrid. Enjoy it.
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