Jude Bellingham turned 23 on Monday, but his gift to England arrived three days early in Orlando. The Real Madrid midfielder scored one goal and set up another, dragging Thomas Tuchel’s side to a 2-0 victory over Panama and confirming their place in the World Cup last 32 as Group L winners.
For 56 minutes, England laboured. They had generated only 0.54 expected goals before Bellingham pierced the Panama defence with a through ball to Harry Kane, creating their first “big chance” of the match. Inside the next ten minutes, the pattern repeated: Bellingham rose to meet Bukayo Saka’s corner and headed the opener, then turned provider for Kane to seal the win with a second goal.
“Jude Bellingham scores and assists as England beat Panama 2-0 to reach World Cup last 32 as group winners.”
The statistics underline his impact. Bellingham’s passes against Panama had an expected assists value of 0.57 – the highest by any England player in any group game. His two chances created for Kane were, in expected‑goal terms, the second and joint‑fourth highest value opportunities of the entire group stage.
“I’m not sure if it’s a reaction,” said Tuchel, who had earlier described Bellingham as being in a “sweet spot” of form, “but it is what we want from him. He was very positive from the first day in camp. He buys fully into all the things we demand as a team play.”
The partnership with Kane had been slow to develop. Opta data shows that before this World Cup, Bellingham had created only three chances for England’s record goalscorer in 1,154 minutes of shared major‑tournament pitch time. Their only previous international goal combination came in a friendly at Hampden Park in 2023. The same pass that unlocked Scotland that night undid Panama here.
Kane, who has now scored 13 goals in Tuchel’s 17 games, had earlier struggled for service. Jordan Pickford played the joint‑most passes to him in the opening match (three), and Marc Guéhi matched that tally against Ghana. Bellingham needed just two precise passes against Panama to prove quality trumps quantity.
Tuchel now faces a choice. Bellingham played deeper against Panama to allow Morgan Rogers to take the No 10 role, yet still dictated the game. His legs were saved for the last‑32 tie with DR Congo. The England manager knows that one player – like Mbappé for France, Messi for Argentina, Vinicius Jr for Brazil – can elevate a team to a different level. At this World Cup, Bellingham is that player.