India, July 6 -- Jude Bellingham does not merely play big matches. He seems to recognise them before everyone else, measure their emotional temperature, and then step into the hottest part of the night as if it belongs to him.

Against Mexico at the Azteca, England needed more than talent. They needed nerve. They needed someone capable of cutting through the noise of a hostile stadium, the pressure of a World Cup knockout match, the weight of a nation waiting for another stumble. Bellingham gave them that in its purest form: two goals in 98 seconds, two punches thrown so quickly that Mexico barely had time to understand the first before the second had landed. England eventually won 3-2, surviving a red card, altitude, pressure and a fierc...