Rain was falling over Wembley and a child in a wheelchair, one of the match mascots, was already soaked. Jude Bellingham, 20, noticed before the anthem played.
He walked over, put his arm on the boy’s shoulder and whispered something in his ear that no one else heard. Then he took off his own England jacket and wrapped it around the child to protect him from the cold. It was all caught on video and went viral within hours.
Hours later, Bellingham scored in the 95th minute and his national team drew 2-2 with Belgium, thus sealing qualification for Euro 2024. On social media, the comments kept coming: “class act”, “mature beyond his years”, several users wrote on X. The player himself ended the night with a message: “I finally broke my Wembley curse”. But what people will not forget is that borrowed coat in the rain.