Bellingham closing in on Beckham’s England caps record

The Real Madrid playmaker has achieved an interesting record after featuring in the starting line-up against Ireland. He is one step closer to David Beckham's achievement.

Jude Bellingham has come a long way since making his senior England debut in the 3-0 friendly win against the Republic of Ireland at Wembley on November 12, 2020. The Three Lions faced the same opponents at the same venue in this year's Nations League . in the evening and the playmaker of Real Madrid, who was in charge in Lee Carsley's last match, and came one step closer to a remarkable record in the name of David Beckham.

Today at Wembley, Bellingham made his 40th appearance for England, but surprisingly all of those caps have come while playing for clubs abroad – 24 while at Borussia Dortmund and 16 during his time at Real Madrid.

The player with the most caps for England while playing for clubs outside Great Britain is Beckham, who made a total of 55 appearances for the senior national team: Real Madrid (36), LA Galaxy (14), AC Milan (5).

Jude has already overtaken Beckham's goal tally

Bellingham scored 24 goals for Real Madrid in all competitions, overtaking Beckham's total of 20 during his four seasons with the Spanish giants. Now he has his eyes on Beckham's cap record.

Let's not forget that Bellingham is still only 21 and is under contract with Madrid until mid-2029, meaning he has at least another five years to feature for England. This year he played 13 games and missed four (he was left out of the squad for the friendlies against Bosnia and Iceland in June and missed the first two Nations League games, against Ireland and Finland, due to a muscle injury).

Jude's next chance to boost his England stats will be the next international window in March 2025, when England will be involved in the Nations League play-offs. Should they advance to the final, there could be two more matches: the semi-final and the final or third place in June.

England's 5-0 win over Ireland puts the team top of Group B2 in League B.

Bellingham in a different role for England

Unlike Real Madrid, where he has had to play in a variety of midfield positions this season, Bellingham has a much more clearly defined role in the England national team and the attacking midfield position behind Harry Kane is his.

The England number '10's physique helps him to make an impact in attack and in the current UEFA Nations League he has already scored one and set up another goal (an Odysseas Vlachodimos own goal) in the two separate matches against Greece .

Last season in Spain he was freer to play from midfield, playing behind Vinicius and Rodrygo in Ancelotti's diamond shape, but this year he has found it a little more difficult. Despite this, Jude remains an important player in Madrid's first team. He has played thirteen games with one goal and four assists.

With Thomas Tüchel taking charge of the England track, Jude will be one of the team's pillars heading into 2025.