In June 2024, Jude Bellingham saved England’s Euros campaign with a stunning 95th-minute overhead kick against Slovakia. In the chaos that followed, he roared into the ecstatic crowd: “Who else?”
After England’s 2-0 victory over Panama, the 22-year-old delivered a performance with a similar aura.
Tuchel has insisted his system would remain largely consistent throughout the tournament, but injuries prompted subtle adjustments on Saturday. Bellingham was pivotal in making those tweaks work, masking a few shortcomings along the way.
Deployed as a box-to-box midfielder in Declan Rice’s absence, Bellingham experienced a game of two contrasting halves. In England’s first two matches, they built from the back through the two centre-backs and Elliot Anderson, with both full-backs pushing wide. Rice and Bellingham vacated the holding zones so Harry Kane could drop into midfield alongside Anderson.
That blueprint shifted against Panama. Jarell Quansah replaced the injured Reece James at right-back and tucked inside to form a back three in possession with Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa, while Nico O’Reilly retained his roaming left-back role. Rather than Kane dropping deep, Bellingham supported Anderson at the base, and England’s in-possession shape oscillated between a 3-2-5 and a 3-1-6, depending on Bellingham’s reading of the play.
Afterward, Tuchel clarified the plan: Bellingham “played as a 10 when we had the ball,” and the aim was to place “six players in the last line” to outnumber Panama’s back five.