The moment of magic that Bellingham performs rescues England.

Jude Bellingham was eager to portray himself as England’s savior in an advertisement for adidas that was released prior to the tournament, and after a long wait, he provided evidence that he was indeed the savior in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday.

For approximately 94 minutes, the Real Madrid midfielder had a really horrible game against Slovakia. He was constantly sprinting down dҽad-end routes, slogging in possession, and frequently displaying a picture of irritation toward the referee, Umut Meler. If we are being honest, we can say that he had a pretty miserable game. The lethargy that overtook England as a team was reflected in his performance earlier in the evening.

However, when Gareth Southgate’s team was on the verge of a humiliating round-of-16 exit to Slovakia after Ivan Schranz scored the game’s first goal in the 25th minute, Bellingham reacted quickly to a Marc Guéhi flick-on to produce a stunning overhead k𝔦ck that brought them back from the brink of elimination and tied the match 1-1 with seconds remaining in stoppage time.

Following the goal scored by Bellingham in the fifth minute of stoppage time, Harry Kane then came to the party in the first minute of extra time with the deciding header in a 2-1 victory. This victory was the result of three substitutes working together to support him: Cole Palmer, Eberechi Eze, and Ivan Toney.

The front four of England, which consists of Bellingham, Kane, Bukayo Saka, and Phil Foden, has been so unimpressive up until this point. However, Bellingham’s moment of magic is precisely why many people had them down as pre-tournament favorites: There are so many players at Southgate’s disposal who are capable of defining games.

It seemed as though Bellingham was mouthing the words “Who else?” while he was celebrating with his equalizer. As if he had known all along, it is as if!

Despite the fact that England must continue to improve as a unit in order to advance to the quarterfinals against Switzerland on Saturday, they must have Bellingham in a form that is inspiring in order to guarantee any kind of extended run at Euro 2024.