Jude Bellingham: England finally have a generational player to end almost 60 years of tournament hurt at Euro 2024

Jude Bellingham certainly believed as soon as they saw off Senegal in the last 16. There were just three wins standing between England and a first World Cup since 1966, and he was certain that they could win the first of them, against defending champions France. In fairness, they really should have done.

Bellingham left the field at the Al-Bayt Stadium on the night of December 10 in tears after a frustrating 2-1 loss, and when he faced the cameras afterwards, the clearly-still emotional teenager insisted that the better team had lost.

The stats certainly supported that claim. England had dominated possession, won more duels, completed more passes and had twice as many shots on goal (16-8). Kyle Walker had also done an excellent job keeping Kylian Mbappe quiet - something considered unthinkable at the time, given the winger's stunning form - but there was simply no containing Antoine Griezmann, who was involved in both of his side' goals.

The fear had certainly been before the eagerly-awaited quarter-final that France had more experienced and proven match-winners, leading to the undeniable feeling that persisted throughout the game that while France knew how to get the job done, England still did not.

There was, then, almost an inevitability about Harry Kane missing a penalty that would have forced extra-time - in spite of the fact that he had already converted one shortly after half-time. It just felt like a fittingly farcical - and painful - way for England to exit the tournament.

Consequently, it was thought that Southgate's time was up; that he had taken the team as far as he could - and, even more damningly, wasted England's best chance to win a World Cup for decades because of his perceived conservativeness. Bellingham, though, was having none of it. He wasn't traumatised by England's campaign in Qatar; he was emboldened by it.

"I personally enjoyed the kind of pressure of the games and the responsibility that the manager gave me," he explained afterwards in an interview with FIFA. "I think you can create [extra] pressure yourself through lack of preparation and confidence. Luckily, I don't lack confidence and I always try to stay prepared. I'm always quite confident I can achieve the things I want to achieve."

And Bellingham has his sights firmly fixed on lifting a major trophy with England.

Only this week, when he was asked by Reach Football about his targets with the national team, he matter-of-factly replied, "My goal for the next 12 months with England will be the same for the next 10-15 years: try to win major tournaments.

"I think we can't shy away from saying that now. We've come close in the last few tournaments, and to now go back and say: 'Ah yeah, that was enjoyable, but now we have to be more realistic'...I don’t see the point.

"We should use the experiences we've got from previous tournaments to push on and bring some silverware home. That's the common goal that we are striving towards and we aren’t afraid to say that anymore. In the last few years it's been a case of hiding that expectation, so that we never fail. We've got to be willing to say it, so we can achieve it."

And why shouldn't both he and his team-mates believe themselves capable of taking the title home?

France are the only other team in Europe with a similar strength in depth all over the park and England's only real weakness is Southgate's propensity for playing it too safe - and arguably being far too loyal to underperforming players such as Harry Maguire.

Certainly, if Bellingham is afforded the same freedom bestowed upon him by Real Madrid - "He doesn't have a fixed position," according to coach Carlo Ancelotti - the Birmingham native will flourish in an exciting side that should also contain budding superstars such as Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Phil Foden.

The challenge, once again, for Southgate will be figuring out the best combinations in both midfield and attack, and that will not be easy. But the primary objective should clearly be building a team around Bellingham - because he is more than capable of inspiring England to victory in Germany.

Of course, whether the fans want to start banging the drum again is open to debate. They've been burned so many times before that some devastated supporters even suggested ditching 'Football's Coming Home' as an unofficial anthem after their latest tournament trauma. However, there is simply no getting away from the fact that they are more than capable of winning Euro 2024 - and Bellingham, with his burgeoning self-belief, is one of the main reasons why.

Is he the best player in the world? Maybe not. But there are none in better form right now. With 13 goal involvements in just 10 games, he's already done something truly extraordinary by making a better start to his Real Madrid career than Cristiano Ronaldo. That is genuinely insane when one considers Bellingham is not a forward, but a midfielder.

It's also worth remembering that Ronaldo was 24 when he moved to Spain - Bellingham is four years younger and, according to some of his team-mates, arrived looking like he's already been at the club for two seasons. It wasn't just that he was in great shape physically, he also appeared fully prepared for the challenge mentally, utterly at ease with his new surroundings.

Not every great player is cut out for the club. Eden Hazard retired earlier this week after a disastrous four-year stay in Madrid, and midfielder Toni Kroos even alluded to the Belgian flop when Bellingham joined from Borussia Dortmund during the summer, caustically pointing out that the last player Real had signed for €100m had failed miserably to live up to the hype.

Bellingham, though, is not just a great professional, he's also a perfectionist, utterly obsessed with self-improvement. He's also got an insatiable desire to win. He views every game as a "war" and freely admits that he has "a bit of the dog in him", meaning he does not react well to defeats. In that sense, Vinicius Jr is clearly correct when he claims that "Jude was born to play for Real Madrid". And what's clear is that Bellingham believes that too, which is manifesting itself in him quickly becoming the leader of a new generation of talent.

Indeed, in Madrid, where it is never easy to win over an incredibly demanding media, some pundits and journalists are already comparing him to Zinedine Zidane and describing him as potentially the club's best player since Alfredo Di Stefano. The usually sceptical Santiago Bernabeu crowd has taken him so swiftly into their hearts that the club has giddily proclaimed William Shakespeare as the only other Englishman responsible for such a beautiful love story.

Meanwhile, at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona last week, similarities were drawn between Bellingham's solo strike in a 3-2 over Napoli and many of the great goals scored by legend after whom the arena is named.

Bellingham has been embarrassed by such praise, describing as the Maradona comparison as "too much", which, as far as Ancelotti is concerned, only offered further evidence of his No.5's "maturity". As the Italian admitted, "He always makes us forget that he is still only 20."

And it really is easy to forget that what Bellingham isn't doing isn't normal. It is, in fact, remarkable. He is already making a €103 million ($137m) transfer fee look like a bargain and, perhaps even more impressively, Birmingham City's decision to retire his No.22 jersey after just 44 appearances for the club no longer feels like an embarrassing act of hyperbole but an incredible demonstration of foresight. At St Andrew's, they knew all along, Bellingham was destined to do great things - and now the rest of the world is realising that too.

Indeed, when it comes to Bellingham, one really is entitled to believe the hype - because this is a young man that is as driven as he is gifted, a genuinely generational talent capable of ending England's almost 60 years of hurt.

Whether those long-suffering supporters are willing to say it out loud yet or not, Bellingham really could bring football home next summer.