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England midfielder Jude Bellingham has etched his name into the history books, becoming the youngest European footballer to feature in four major tournaments for his national team. The Real Madrid star, at 22 years and 353 days old, started for the Three Lions in their opening match of the 2026 World Cup. Manager Thomas Tuchel opted for Bellingham over Morgan Rogers to kick off the clash against Croatia.
This appearance marks Bellingham's 16th match in a major tournament (either a European Championship or a World Cup).
Here's how Tuchel justified his decision to start Bellingham ahead of Rogers:
"Both of them deserve to start. Ultimately, we decided to stick with the team that performed so well in the friendly against Costa Rica. We'll have to make similar decisions throughout the tournament. Bukayo Saka also had a fantastic training session yesterday and deserved to be in the starting XI. But we won't start and finish this match with just 11 players. We need a strong bench, and we have players who can make an impact and change games coming off the sidelines. That's incredibly important. The decision between Jude and Morgan was 50-50. We simply chose to stick with the same lineup."
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