Bellingham breaks England World Cup scoring record

Jude Bellingham became the first England men’s player to score seven goals at a single FIFA World Cup after finding the net in England’s dramatic 6-4 victory over France in the third-place play-off.

The Real Madrid midfielder came off the bench to break the England World Cup scoring record and score the sixth goal with the final kick of the match, surpassing the previous England record jointly held by Gary Lineker and captain Harry Kane.

Lineker scored six goals at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, while Kane reached the same tally at the 2018 tournament in Russia and matched it again during the 2026 competition.

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Introduced in the 79th minute, Bellingham sealed England’s victory with a superb solo effort, carrying the ball from the halfway line before beating a defender and calmly finishing into the bottom corner.

Earlier in the second half, Bellingham appeared set to take England’s penalty after Djed Spence was fouled in the box. Instead, he encouraged Bukayo Saka to take the spot-kick, allowing the Arsenal winger to complete his hat-trick.

Speaking after the match, Saka confirmed that Bellingham had insisted he take the penalty.

“No, Jude [Bellingham] was never taking it,” Saka told BBC.

“He was the first one to say go and get your hat-trick, so none of them came to distract me. I was always going to take it.”

England’s victory over France secured the bronze medal and their highest World Cup finish since lifting the trophy in 1966.