Shooting star Jude Bellingham was delighted after his historic goal in the 6-2 opening win against Iran at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. But the BVB professional also found a hair in the soup.
“To be honest, I thought he missed it. It took forever for the ball to get in the goal,” Bellingham told BBC about his header to make it 1-0 in the far corner (35′).
The 19-year-old, who became the second youngest goalscorer in England history after Michael Owen at the 1998 finals, added: “I’ve said I want to score more goals for Dortmund and England this year. It’s a really proud moment to me.”
BVB star Jude Bellingham is also critical
However, the BVB star was not completely satisfied with the sometimes enthusiastic performance of his Three Lions.
“Six goals in a World Cup game is impressive no matter who you’re playing against. But I’m disappointed with the two goals conceded, to be honest,” said Bellingham.
National coach Gareth Southgate took the same line. “We made a mark. But we shouldn’t have conceded the two goals. It was a great start but we still need to play better.”
“Excellent” performance by Jude Bellingham
The performance of Bellingham and his colleague Declan Rice in central midfield was praised by the England coach as “excellent”. Southgate added: “We have some really good players and they really delivered today.”
In addition to Bellingham, Bukayo Saka (43’/62′), Raheem Sterling (45’+1′), Marcus Rashford (71′) and Jack Grealish (90′) also scored for the island’s co-favourite. Mehdi Taremi (65’/90’+13’/penalty) scored both goals for Iran.
England will continue against the USA on Friday (20:00 CET). Iran meets Wales (11:00 CET).