Gary Neville 'never seen any player' like Jude Bellingham as he makes Gazza and Owen comparison
England's 2-1 win over Norway in the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup will be remembered as The Jude Bellingham Show thanks to the Real Madrid star's heroics
Gary Neville claimed that Paul Gascoigne, Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney were never able to "rip up" a World Cup like Jude Bellingham has, as he ran the show against Norway in the semi-finals on Saturday evening. The tournament has been incredibly fruitful for the 23-year-old, scoring six goals in as many games for England thus far.
And the Real Madrid midfielder's true potential was on full display at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, as he came to the Three Lions' rescue once more. Thomas Tuchel's men conceded early in the first-half, when Andreas Schjelderup found the back of Jordan Pickford's net with a cross from out wide.
However, on the stroke of half-time, Bellingham levelled the playing field for his nation. After receiving the ball in the box from Anthony Gordon, Bellingham showed some silky footwork and strongman strength to hold off the Norwegian defence, before slotting home past Orjan Nyland.
With the game headed to extra-time as a result of a deadlock at 90 minutes, Bellingham then gave his nation the lead, and ultimately, the game, by being at the right place at the right time. Morgan Rogers tested Nyland from range, with the goalkeeper only able to parry the thunderous shot back into the centre of his own box.
From there, Bellingham showed a poacher's mentality to latch onto the loose ball before converting from point-blank range. Norway were unable to break the England backline for the rest of the encounter, with the Three Lions defending a relentless onslaught to secure a 2-1 win.
And while it was a remarkable team performance, Dan Burn and Djed Spence playing out of their skin in the latter stages in particular, it was Bellingham who received the majority of the plaudits from Neville. Speaking at full-time from the ITV studio, the Manchester United legend said: "I've seen Gascoigne go to a tournament and rip it up.
"I've seen Michael Owen go and do the same. I've seen, obviously Wayne Rooney in 2004.
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"But I've never seen a player for England in my lifetime have an impact on a tournament like Jude Bellingham. This is very special, what we're watching.
"Absolute superstar; he's everything and more out there for England right now. And to be fair, Dan Burn just transported League 2, Newport vs Barrow, into the World Cup quarter-final at the end; It was brilliant."
Despite a frosty reception to England's overall performance, Tuchel was also quick to give the Stourbridge-born talent props for his heroics. He said: "Enough said, he does it every single match. World class."
Elsewhere, Bellingham spoke to ITV in the aftermath of the win, praising his team's character when the chips were down. He said: "Character, perseverance even when things weren't working, we found a way to win the game again. Whether it's in 90 or 120, we'll give it everything we've got.
"And you saw that there; everyone was ready to come on, came on and smashed it so yeah, so proud of this team. Once again in a World Cup semi-final."
When asked about his tap-in goal from close range which won the game, he added: "I think it's an important goal. It's put us through to the semi-final. It has to be right up there. I told him [Rogers] to keep going because I knew he was going to make an impact in the game.
"I've scored loads of those kind of goals, to be fair. The keeper had a worldie but he was unlucky with that one, the way that it popped up, and I was just lucky to be there to put it in."
Asked about the impact of Elliot Anderson, Spence and Burn, who are new to this stage of the competition, Bellingham continued: "Warriors. They didn't look like they were new to it.
"All three of them and whoever else came on, just top level. There's one thing to have quality, in which, all of the lads in this group do, but you don't know how much mentality and how much heart they've got until we're in a situation like that, and they've shown themselves."
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