Jude Bellingham, 23, is now one of the biggest names at the 2026 World Cup. But there was a time when football mattered little to him.
In an interview with L’Équipe, the Real Madrid midfielder said that as a child he felt no passion for the ball.
While his teammates ran after it, Jude would step aside to look for herbs and wildflowers to make necklaces and daisy bouquets, which he would then give to his mother, Denise. “I didn’t like football. It’s crazy, I know”, he admitted.
His father, Mark Bellingham, never forced him to choose the sport: “If you want to play tag, play, or go pick flowers”, he would tell him.
That freedom ended up taking Jude to the world elite, with seven goals and a brace against Norway in the quarter-finals of this World Cup. Sometimes destiny takes a little longer to bloom.
