Rooney was clear that Mbappe and Haaland remain the best players in the world in the broadest sense, acknowledging that Bellingham has not quite hit those same heights consistently at Real Madrid this season. But at this tournament specifically, he said, nobody has been better. It is an assessment that is hard to argue with given the numbers and the moments Bellingham has produced when England have needed them most.
Why Bellingham Has Been So Important to England
Bellingham, 23, has developed into a genuinely decisive player for England at major tournaments. Across World Cups and European Championships, he has now contributed nine goals and three assists, averaging a goal or assist every 138 minutes. In other international matches, that figure drops to one every 284 minutes, underlining just how much he elevates his performance when the stage is biggest. His Real Madrid teammate Mbappe, with 12 goals in major tournaments before the age of 24, is the only European player to have outscored him in that age bracket.
At this World Cup, Bellingham scored in the group stage victories over Croatia and Panama before finding the net twice in both the knockout wins over Mexico and Norway. His contributions have not just been in goals either. Rooney pointed to qualities that go beyond the technical to explain what makes him so effective. Energy, desire, hunger and a willingness to do the unglamorous work are all qualities he cited, noting how rare it is to see a player at Bellingham's level consistently combine those qualities with genuine match-winning ability. He said Bellingham reminded him of himself in the sense that there are moments of pure brilliance followed immediately by moments where you beg him not to make a reckless challenge. That unpredictability and raw competitive instinct, Rooney suggested, is exactly what England fans connect with, and at this tournament Bellingham has backed it up on the biggest stages when it has mattered.
Kane's Role and What England Need Against Argentina
While Bellingham has grabbed the headlines, the partnership between him and Kane has been the real foundation of England's run. Between them they have scored 12 of England's 13 goals at this tournament. No team in World Cup history that has scored more than 10 goals has been quite so reliant on just two players to provide them, which speaks to both the quality of the partnership and the challenge England would face if either player were to have a quiet game against Argentina.
Rooney believes Kane will be the decisive figure on Wednesday. He identified Argentina's centre-back pairing of Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martinez as vulnerable to what Kane does best, arguing that when the Bayern Munich striker is at his sharpest, defenders of that type struggle to contain him. Kane's habit of dropping deep to receive the ball and then spinning in behind his marker, or releasing runners with a perfectly weighted pass at the right moment, is a specific tactical headache that Rooney feels Argentina's backline will find difficult to solve. If Kane performs at his peak, the argument goes, England have as good a chance as anyone of reaching the first World Cup final since 1966. And if either Kane or Bellingham score against Argentina, they will surpass Gary Lineker's six-goal tally from 1986 and Kane's own record from 2018, both of which were enough to win the Golden Boot.
