Jude Bellingham beats Harry Kane! Real Madrid star wins England's Men's Player of the Year award ahead of Bayern Munich ace

Bellingham has become the 14th different player to win the men’s award, following on from Cole Palmer last season and Bukayo Saka each of the two previous years before that. The Real Madrid star also becomes only the second player to win the award while playing outside England, after Owen Hargreaves in 2006.

The award was voted for by supporters and saw Declan Rice finish second, grabbing an impressive three goals and five assists in a more advanced role in the Three Lions midfield, while captain Kane finished third following a stellar year for club and country which saw him recently finish 13th in the Ballon d'Or.

While Bellingham’s quality has never been in question, his decision to win the award may raise some eyebrows following the form of particularly Kane in Tuchel’s reign so far. Bellingham’s four goal contributions include a late equaliser in the eventual defeat to Greece last autumn and two assists in a 5-0 thumping of the Republic of Ireland, also under Lee Carsley. He has only registered one assist in four appearances under Tuchel and was ruled out of the squad for the September international break through injury. He returned to action following several months out with shoulder surgery as Real lost 5-2 to city rivals Atletico Madrid last week.

Bellingham has become a global star during his time with Real Madrid, winning the Champions League and La Liga amidst further honours in a ground-breaking first season with Los Blancos, which led to him being crowned La Liga Player of the Year for 2023/24.

Bellingham may have felt aggrieved not to have won England’s Men’s Player of the Year award last year, as Palmer pipped him to the gong despite being used as a substitute in the Euros. Both players no doubt had their outstanding moments on England’s run in the tournament, as Palmer scored in the final defeat to Spain while Bellingham’s overhead kick in stoppage time against Slovakia was arguably the moment of the tournament for Gareth Southgate’s side.

The former Birmingham City and Borussia Dortmund man has made up for last year’s disappointment with this year’s 2024/25 award, though, and will hope it is not the last time he is crowned his nation’s best.

The England Men’s Player of the Year award first began in 2003, with David Beckham crowned its first winner. Wayne Rooney has won the award the most number of times, four – in 2008, 2009, 2014 and 2015.

Kane has won the award twice, the most recently being in 2018 after the then-Tottenham Hotspur man won the Golden Boot in the World Cup to follow up his domestic Golden Boot the same season. Kane also won England Player of the Year the previous year in 2017.

Other notable winners include Frank Lampard (twice), Steven Gerrard (also twice), Ashley Cole (2010), Jordan Henderson (2019) and Kalvin Phillips in 2020/21.

While Bellingham will no doubt be honoured to have bee recognised for his contributions to his national team, it is who wins the award next year which could ultimately prove far more important. With the 2026 World Cup on the horizon next summer, Tuchel and the entire nation will hope that next year’s Player of the Year is won by a man who inspired the Three Lions to glory in the US, Mexico and Canada.

Whether that is Bellingham, Kane, Palmer, Saka or someone completely different, remains to be seen. In the meantime, England must ensure that they complete qualification for the tournament without many troubles. The pressure is then on Tuchel to ensure that he can work out what his best XI is with plenty of time to spare.