Jude Bellingham scored twice in 98 seconds as England beat Mexico 3-2 at the Azteca despite finishing with 10 men – and Wayne Rooney believes the performance ranks alongside iconic Champions League displays from Steven Gerrard and Roy Keane.
The 23-year-old Real Madrid midfielder’s double in the World Cup last-16 victory set up a quarter-final against Norway as Thomas Tuchel’s side chase their first major trophy since 1966.
“Wayne Rooney compares Jude Bellingham's World Cup display to iconic performances by Steven Gerrard and Roy Keane.”
“I said Jude Bellingham was going to have a game when we’re going to need him to drag us through,” former Three Lions striker Rooney said on his BBC podcast. “You look at Steven Gerrard against AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final. Roy Keane against Juventus for Manchester United. They dragged the teams through them games. I felt like that was Bellingham’s one with them two goals – the timing of the goals, his desire, his work rate, his hunger.”
Gerrard scored the first as Liverpool came from 3-0 down to beat AC Milan on penalties in Istanbul, while Keane scored for United as they overturned a 3-1 aggregate deficit against Juventus, knowing a yellow card had ruled him out of the final.
Rooney rated Bellingham’s display a ‘10 out of 10’ given the ‘pitfalls’ surrounding the match. The midfielder also made a brilliant last-ditch tackle to deny Mexico defender Cesar Montes what would have been an equaliser on the stroke of half-time.
“At times defensively he’s not always in the right positions, but his desire to get back and put that last-minute tackle in and help his team-mates when they’re not maybe having the best game was everything,” Rooney added. “I just felt it was the right game to give him a 10 out of 10.”
The victory, achieved a man down, now faces its ultimate test: can Bellingham drag England past Norway and towards a trophy that has eluded them for nearly six decades?