Bellingham has gone to another level for England, says Southgate

“I don't want to big him up too much because he is still young, but he's one of the most gifted players I have ever seen,” Foden said. “He has no weakness in his game.”

Henderson, whose performance was also key to England's victory, added: “I can't keep saying nice things about him because we're talking about a one-off.”

England were struggling to contain Senegal in the first half but Bellingham suddenly seized control of the match, and his first-half statistics said it all.

He won the most duels (eight), tackles (three), won possession twice in the final third and completed 23 of 24 passes, the best ratio of any player on the pitch.

Former England defender Rio Ferdinand was one of several pundits to marvel at his performance.

“Jude Bellingham is 19, I want to see his birth certificate,” he said on Twitter.

England take on France in the quarterfinals on Saturday with a victory seeing them match their 2018 run to the semifinals, but with Bellingham in such form they will be confident of going two steps further.

Reuters

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