Jude Bellingham scored England's sixth goal against France on Saturday 18 July, driving in the last of the match deep into second-half stoppage time and becoming the first England player to score seven at a single World Cup 1. The record had never been set in sixteen previous England campaigns, and it fell in a fixture with nothing riding on it.
He played the full ninety plus stoppages with a question still open behind him. Footage from the semi-final in Atlanta appeared to show him striking Argentina's Valentin Barco after the whistle , and he walked out at Hard Rock Stadium with no ruling either way from FIFA's disciplinary machinery. Thomas Tuchel selected him regardless, into a midfield already missing Reece James and Jordan Henderson .
Bellingham reached seven goals from midfield rather than from attack. He does not lead the line for England, and his tally was assembled by arriving late into the box across the tournament rather than by playing as a striker. Records of this kind are usually set by centre-forwards on the end of service. This one was set by the player supplying the arrival, which describes how Tuchel has arranged the side around him.
England finish third. The goal that set the record was also the tenth of the afternoon, arriving after the outcome was settled, in a match neither side needed to win.
