Jude Bellingham says he is harnessing the pain of England’s near misses as the talented teenager homes in on European Championship glory next summer.
The national team are in the midst of their most successful period since Sir Alf Ramsey led Bobby Moore’s heroes to World Cup glory in 1966.
The surprising run to the 2018 semi-finals in Russia was followed by manager Gareth Southgate leading England to a first European Championship final two years ago.
Bellingham’s first tournament ended in an agonising shoot-out defeat to Italy at Wembley and his maiden World Cup ended in a galling quarter-final exit to France in December.
But now attention turns to their quest for Euros glory in Germany next summer – a tournament England will take a giant step towards by winning June’s qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia.
Bellingham, who is closing in on a move to Real Madrid after Borussia Dortmund accepted their offer, will play no part in those matches due to a knee injury, yet he still reported to St George’s Park as he continues rehabilitation.
“We’ve got to attack the qualifiers with the same mentality as we attack major tournaments,” Bellingham recently told the PA news agency.
“The last three (tournaments), I’d say, we’ve been pretty successful. The last one was a bit disappointing, but we probably played a harder opponent than the previous ones.
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“The way we went out was disappointing, but you take confidence in the fact that you can go toe-to-toe with one of the better teams in Europe.
“It stands you in good stead when you know there’s not many better teams on paper – you’d like to think – that are better than us.
“So, you take that confidence and you take the experience that we’ve gained from the last few.
“The goal is always to try and win it. That should be the goal for all of us going into it and that’s what we’ll try and do.”
Bellingham does not lack confidence and nor should he given England’s performances in Qatar.
A narrow defeat to eventual finalists and Euro 2024 favourites France did for Southgate’s side in the desert, where the midfielder says their progress was no mirage.
“I felt so confident going into that France game that we’d get a result,” said Bellingham, speaking in his role as ambassador for McDonald’s Fun Football programme – which provides free, inclusive football coaching for children aged five to 11 across more than 1,500 locations in the UK.
“I think probably we fell short in the big moments for their goals and obviously the penalties and moments like that.
“The majority of the game we didn’t have clear chances, but when we did, we could have been a bit more decisive maybe. But, like I said, it’s an experience to take into the next ones.
“I just really enjoyed the experience as a whole – relishing being away, playing in such a good team, having that pressure on me and on the team. It’s something that I really enjoyed.”
Bellingham underlined his place as one of the greatest talents in the world in Qatar, flourishing in England’s midfield after a restricted but valuable role at Euro 2020.
Aged 17 he became the youngest English player to feature in a major tournament, making three substitute appearances in a crash course summer of learning.
“It was a bit of weird one for me because I didn’t play (much),” Bellingham said. “It was my first major tournament and I didn’t play too much.
“But I was still like a sponge while I was there, trying to learn from everything that was going on around me, having it in England as well.
“You could see the pressure up close almost and you went to the games and the atmosphere was incredible. We fell short at the final hurdle, so you take a lot of experience from that.
“But there’s also a level of…not regret but motivation that you can take from the tournament.
“I think, for me, the pain that I felt after that final and after the World Cup will definitely drive me in the tournaments to come.”
You certainly would not back against ambitious Bellingham and his talented England team-mates as they look to finally land silverware in Germany.
“I’d just say stick with us, really,” the 24-cap teenager said when asked what his message to supporters would be.
“England fans can feel it themselves, They’re ambitious, but they’re not stupid. There’s a reason for the kind of expectation and the hype around the team at the minute.
“The truth is that we are delivering. We’d like to deliver a trophy and a tournament win, of course, but I think there’s steps to doing that.
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“A lot of the great international teams in the past didn’t win straight away. They had to build for years before they managed to get over the line.
“I think that there’s something similar happening with this England team now. I wouldn’t say patience is the word but just stick with us because we’ll deliver.”
:: Jude Bellingham was speaking at a McDonald’s Fun Football session to announce his role as an ambassador for the UK’s largest grassroots participation programme for 5-11 year olds. Find your nearest free session at www.mcdonalds.co.uk/football.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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