Injury scare for Jude Bellingham in World Cup countdown! Real Madrid superstar suffers hamstring nightmare amid La Liga & Champions League title challenges

Bellingham lasted less than 10 minutes of Real Madrid’s latest domestic fixture. He chased a long ball over the top, which was fed down the right-hand channel, but was unable to pick up possession. That is because a muscle pop halted him in his tracks.

The 22-year-old was travelling at full speed when he suddenly started to hop. He grabbed at the back of his left leg and tumbled to the ground. Agony was etched on Bellingham’s face as the severity of the problem quickly dawned on him.

Medical staff were waved onto the field, with Bellingham requiring immediate treatment. It did not take long for fellow ‘Galactico’ Kylian Mbappe to beckon towards the Madrid bench that a replacement would be required.

Arbeloa was forced into an unscheduled shuffling of his pack, with Brahim Diaz being introduced as an early substitute. Bellingham left the field with his shirt pulled up over his face, with another spell on the treatment table beckoning.

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Bellingham will require further tests before a full diagnosis can be delivered, with a recovery timescale set to follow beyond that. He will be hoping for good news, but the outlook appears rather bleak. The all-action midfielder was almost in tears when leaving the pitch at Santiago Bernabeu.

The 2025-26 campaign has already been a frustrating one for him on the fitness front. Bellingham sat out the start of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery in the summer of 2025. That operation was undertaken in a bid to resolve a long-standing complaint.

Interim Blancos boss Arbeloa will be disappointed to have seen Bellingham removed from his immediate plans having given him, Thibaut Courtois, Fede Valverde, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior every minute of Real’s last four matches.

Ahead of a clash with Vallecano, he had said when asked if there are “untouchables” in his squad: “I understand football debates, but I always want to have the best on the pitch. And the more minutes they can be for me, at the team’s disposal, the better. We saw it, for example, in Villarreal. With two minutes to go, in stoppage time, Mbappe’s goal comes from a very good action by Vinicius, who goes inside, turns the game around, finds Mbappe and is awarded a penalty.

“They are players capable of unbalancing a game at any minute. And well, because there will be people who are not Real Madrid fans who do not want them to be on the field. I imagine that what Real Madrid fans want is for their best players to always be available, always on the pitch. The five you said… they are players who can be in the top 10 worldwide. So they have my full confidence. And it’s not that it’s my confidence, but it’s their performance that puts them on the pitch.”

In better news for Real, Brazilian forward Vinicius broke the deadlock for them against Vallecano within minutes of Bellingham being forced from the field. They are looking to keep pace with Clasico rivals Barcelona in another thrilling La Liga title race.

On the international front, Bellingham is aware that the clock is ticking on efforts to prove his worth to England boss Tuchel. The demanding German tactician has stated that nobody is assured of a place in his plans.

With final pre-World Cup friendly dates to come in March, it may be that Bellingham relies on goodwill and past performances to earn him a seat on the plane to North America - with others being given a chance to stake a serious claim to the Three Lions’ No.10 berth.