Neville: Bellingham Is England's Superstar Now, Not the Future

Jude Bellingham has become England's genuine superstar, according to Gary Neville, who said the midfielder's display against Norway gave him goosebumps. Bellingham scored twice in England's extra-time win in the World Cup quarter-final, sending the team into a semi-final against Lionel Messi's Argentina on Wednesday.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, Neville said he had never seen an England player dominate a tournament this way, comparing it to Paul Gascoigne in 1996, Wayne Rooney in 2004 and Michael Owen in 1998.

"This isn't England's next superstar. This is England's superstar right now. This is obviously game-changing."

• Gary Neville, Sky Sports pundit

Key points from Neville's comments

• Bellingham has scored six goals at the tournament.
• Neville says he has contributed at both ends of the pitch.
• England has been carried through "almost single-handedly," with support from Harry Kane.
• Neville's teenage daughters, 16 and 17, "absolutely adore him."
• He says young fans in England and abroad, including in the US, see Bellingham as a hero.

Neville admits he underestimated him

Neville also said he had underestimated Bellingham before the tournament, having rated only Harry Kane as a true world-class player.

"He's just gone and done it. He's just gone and climbed that sort of extra step."

• Gary Neville, Sky Sports pundit

He added that Roy Keane and Ian Wright told him after the Norway match that Bellingham is currently the best midfielder in the world, "and that's not because he's scoring goals."

Still room for England to improve

Despite the praise, Neville was more critical of England's overall play.

"I'd like England to be playing better. I'd like them to be combining better. But this tournament is a lot about big players turning up, and we have that."

• Gary Neville, Sky Sports pundit

The night that prompted it

England needed extra time to see off Norway in the quarter-final, and Bellingham's two goals were what separated the sides. The occasion was big enough at home that licensing hours were relaxed for it: pubs across England were allowed to stay open later than their licences normally permit so supporters could watch the match through to the finish.

That is the context Neville was reacting to when he described getting goosebumps. A quarter-final that ran to 120 minutes, decided by one player, watched by a country that had been given an extra hour in the pub to see it.

The comparisons Neville reached for

Neville named three players: Gascoigne in 1996, Owen in 1998 and Rooney in 2004. All three are shorthand in England for a tournament a single young player took over.

Gascoigne was 29 at Euro 96 and playing on home soil, and his goal against Scotland at Wembley remains one of the most replayed pieces of footage in the English game. Owen was 18 at the 1998 World Cup when he ran through Argentina's defence in Saint-Etienne, a tournament England left on penalties. Rooney was 18 at Euro 2004 and scoring freely until a broken metatarsal against Portugal ended his tournament in the quarter-final, a match England went on to lose on penalties.

The pattern Neville was pointing at is the one every England fan already knows: in each case the individual outlasted the team by exactly one round.

England had a disciplinary subplot of its own

Alongside the football, the FA spent part of the knockout stage weighing an appeal against Jarell Quansah's red card, encouraged by FIFA's decision to downgrade Folarin Balogun's suspension after an intervention on the United States' behalf. France lodged a card appeal at the same time, and the run of cases was described as having opened the floodgates on tournament discipline.

What happened next

England's semi-final against Argentina did not produce the ending Neville's assessment was building towards. Argentina went through to face Spain in the final at MetLife Stadium, a match remembered as much for the brawl at the final whistle and the suspensions FIFA handed out afterwards as for the football.

Bellingham's six goals still made this the tournament that settled the argument Neville was having with himself. His own line about underestimating the midfielder before a ball was kicked is the part likely to age worst, and he said it first.