Jude Bellingham: Why the Real Madrid star has entered his main character era

The Real Madrid superstar was the hero as England edged past Norway in a thriller of a World Cup quarter-final and in the process, he did something few players would dare: he sent his own best mate packing.

Bellingham and Erling Haaland go way back to their Borussia Dortmund days, and the pair are still as close as ever off the pitch.

But on it? Bellingham showed zero mercy, bagging two goals to fire England into the semi-finals and leave Haaland trudging home instead.

Despite being on opposite sides of one of the biggest matches of the tournament, the pair's friendship shone through in the best possible way.

The two shared a warm exchange after the final whistle, and there was even a laugh-out-loud moment mid-match when they playfully tugged and shoved each other at a free-kick, both cracking smiles in the middle of the chaos.

Football rivalry with a side of bromance, honestly, it doesn't get much better than that.

Bellingham's brace was enough to earn him the Michelob Ultra Superior Player of the Match award, and honestly, the stat sheet makes the case all on its own.

The 23-year-old was on the pitch for a marathon 111 minutes, five more than his old pal Haaland managed before Norway's night ended.

In that time, he took five shots, with two finding the net, racked up 64 touches, completed 83% of his passes, pulled off three dribbles, launched three long balls, and still found the energy to put in a tackle, an interception and three recoveries. Oh, and he won eight ground duels for good measure. The man did a bit of everything.

To put his night into historical context: at 23 years and 12 days old, Bellingham is now the second-youngest player to score two or more goals in back-to-back FIFA World Cup knockout games, behind only a 17-year-old Pele, all the way back in 1958.

That's the kind of company that ends careers-worth of debates before they even start.

Naturally, football fans could not stop talking. One fan didn't hold back on the friendship angle: 'Bellingham knew he gonna send Haaland ass home.'

Others were busy rewriting the record books in real time. 'When we talk about the greatest midfielders of all time, we need to start putting Jude Bellingham in those conversations,' one fan wrote.

'There's absolutely nothing he can't do fr. He's excellent at attack, defense, passing - every footballing attribute you can think of. He's HIM.'

Another kept it short and dramatic: 'Football's next legend is writing this story.'

Some fans were even ready to settle long-running debates for good. 'Who tf is Pedri, bro,' one supporter wrote. 'Never make this a debate ever again. Jude has more G/A than Pedri has starts in the World Cup.'

Not every reaction was pure praise, mind you, a few fans took issue with England's on-pitch antics, with one grumbling about the team's gamesmanship, even while grudgingly admitting Bellingham's brilliance.

Whatever the noise around it, one thing is undeniable: right now, in this World Cup, on this stage, Jude Bellingham is the name everyone is talking about.

Main character energy isn't something you can fake, and Bellingham has been directing this storyline for weeks now, scene-stealing performance after scene-stealing performance, with the script somehow getting better every time he takes the pitch.

Two goals against his best mate, a place in the semi-finals secured, and a spot in World Cup history alongside Pele himself; this is what it looks like when a player fully steps into the moment.

The supporting cast will have their say before this World Cup is done. But for now, this is undeniably Bellingham's story and everyone else is just living in it.