The Real Madrid midfielder offers the Three Lions an X factor no other player can
**_Albania 0-2 England_** _(Kane 74′, 82′)_
TIRANA — Eberechi Eze is a wonderfully intuitive footballer, but even he seemed taken by surprise at the audacity of it.
There was just shy of an hour on the clock in Tirana when Jude Bellingham got the ball.
In front of him were a bank of red shirts in the low-block set-up that so often gives England headaches, but where others see conundrums, here was a reminder that Bellingham sees solutions.
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His through-ball was wonderfully weighted, but it was the ambition of the pass that most impressed.
Jude Bellingham’s evening against Albania ultimately ended in frustration (Photo: Getty)
The Air Albania Stadium – a tight, Championship-style stadium where the locals made a decent din all night – collectively inhaled as it glided into Eze’s path.
That the Arsenal man wasn’t quite able to get the ball out of his feet to sweep it past Thomas Strakosha in the Albania goal isn’t really the point.
It’s that World Cups are often decided in the moments, and in Bellingham, England have one of the few players in world football that you could confidently predict is capable of delivering them.
So here’s the problem: it was also a night that ended with Bellingham looking distinctly unimpressed, aiming “why me?” shrugs at his manager, when he was withdrawn with less than 10 minutes left on the clock in normal time.
Tuchel’s call made sense: Bellingham was carrying a booking and another yellow card would have ruled him out of the World Cup opener. But, perhaps sensing that Albania’s punch resistance had evaporated, he did not want to go off.
It was not a good look for a player trying to strain every sinew to prove that he can be a cog in the England machine that Tuchel wants to whir efficiently in North America next summer. You can send him whatever message you want during the October break but at some point Bellingham is going to Bellingham.
And – I suppose – that is the essence of him. If you take away the edge, does he have the confidence to make the pass, attempt the bicycle kick and generally exude the sort of main character energy that he brings every time he starts an England match?
The critics – and there are a growing number of them – will point to his sporadic sloppiness in possession here as proof that [Morgan Rogers might actually offer England more](https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/aston-villa-morgan-rogers-jude-bellingham-england-squad-4031307?ico=in-line_link). He has certainly done his cause no harm over the last six months but as incisive and direct as he might look on occasion, failing to shine in the most gentle qualifying group of a generation would have been criminal.
Tuchel has been clever since a summer of discontent when England were embarrassed by Senegal and made to sweat by Andorra’s part-timers. He has shifted the narrative to the extent that the Bellingham debate is going to hang over everything until England touch down in Miami for the pre-tournament looseners in June. But no elite coach would see a player of his gifts as a problem to be developed rather than dumped.
These are luxury problems for Tuchel, who tinkered in Tirana. There were seven changes and a system change as he encouraged John Stones to step into midfield to supplement a three that also included Adam Wharton. It was an interesting experiment that only partially worked, England struggling to crack open their hosts for an engaging 45 minutes.
The second half was better and inevitably it was Harry Kane who delivered when it mattered. His first goal was a typically quick reaction to a half chance in the box, prodding home from close range. Number two was trademark Kane – a brilliant angled header that sealed eight wins from eight in qualifying.
That’s as it should be. England are a few notches above anything that this qualifying campaign has thrust in front of them and will, in turn, have to go up a few notches if they are going to trouble the globe’s best in 2026. You suspect they will need Bellingham – warts and all – to do that.