Paul Merson says Jude Bellingham has the X-factor needed to help England win the World Cup.
The Real Madrid midfielder scored twice - the first player to do so in consecutive knockout stage games at a single World Cup since Diego Maradona in 1986 - in the 2-1 win over Norway which set up a semi-final against Argentina.
Nine of Bellingham's 12 England goals have been at major tournaments and his six goals in the tournament put him alongside Lineker (1986) and Harry Kane (2018, 2026) as the only England players to score at least five at a single World Cup.
And Merson, speaking on Sky Sports News , thinks England have every chance of winning the World Cup for the first time since 1966 thanks to Bellingham and captain Harry Kane.
Read on for Merson's thoughts on England's win over Norway and their World Cup chances in full!
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Only a few months ago we were debating whether it was Jude Bellingham or Morgan Rogers playing.
How mad are we to even have thought that?
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No disrespect to Rogers but Bellingham is on another level.
For the second goal, the rebound, it's his movement. He goes inside and then back outside to get to the ball and he's the only one who goes for it.
Teams win leagues. X-factor wins tournaments.
We have an X-factor player in Jude Bellingham, and also Harry Kane. We have X-factor in abundance with those two.
When you have players like that, you always have a chance of winning tournaments.
It wasn't Kane's best day against Norway but on this occasion, Bellingham stepped up. He's an absolute superstar.
You'd have to say he's well on the way to being an England great.
He always turns up for England, especially at the big tournaments. He's a big game player and also, he's a Real Madrid player.
You see a lot of good players but there are levels. He is moving up the levels very, very quickly to get near the top players.
While England have Bellingham, they have always got a chance.
The performance in general against Norway wasn't great, but we won.
I don't think people understand how hot it is over in America and the difficulty that brings. It's boiling hot over there. I've been to Orlando on holiday and it's bad enough just sitting around the pool. To play football in that heat for that long, extra-time too, fair play to the players. It's an amazing effort from both sets of players.
I can see why Thomas Tuchel wasn't very happy in his interview after the game.
He should have been unhappy because players were making bad mistakes.
Tuchel is an elite manager. That's why England brought him in.
He's not silly. He knows that if England play like that, not so much against Argentina, but against France or Spain, we'd get blown away. He knows that and that is why he said what he said after beating Norway.
We are number four in the world and we have got to a semi-final. That is where we should be. At Wimbledon, you expect the top four seeds to get to the last four. If they don't, they have failed.
So, job one we've done. We are in the last four. After that, if we can get to the final we have exceeded expectation. That's the way I think we should look at it.
Sky Sports’ Paul Merson: “England need a fully fit Declan Rice back and firing. “It’s a testament to how good our squad is the amount of times Tuchel changed things up against Norway. It’s a very strong squad. “But Declan has to be fit. He didn’t look right against Norway. He puts the ball on a sixpence from a corner for Arsenal. He couldn’t even beat the first man. “However, Rice has to play. Hopefully it was just illness affecting him. We need our best players on the pitch. “If it isn’t working, we have the players on the bench to change things. We are probably the only nation who have four or five subs that can come on and not really weaken the side. The squad is at a top level and that gives us a big advantage.”
Whoever wins the World Cup will have to be lucky along the way. No team that wins a World Cup could say they weren't lucky in a moment.
We've had a little bit of luck along the way, and it has brought us to a semi-final against a team in Argentina that do not like us.
I remember France '98 when we lost to them (on penalties in the last 16).
The coaches were right next each other in the car park and I will never forget the Argentina players with their shirts off, banging the windows.
It wasn't classy and that is why there will always be an added something in the game.
I have no problem with us having to play Argentina. I can see us beating them, even with the way we are playing at the moment, which isn't perfect.
My only concern is if we get through Argentina. We won't be able to play like we are playing and beat France or Spain.
England are good enough to win the World Cup. They have players good enough to win the World Cup.
But they will have to be better. They will have to get the simple things right.
I personally didn't think I'd see England win a World Cup in my lifetime, but we are getting closer and closer.
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Sources: Sky Sports
