Bellingham’s pass map
It was an all-action display from Jude Bellingham.
But aside from his tackling and swashbuckling runs, his passing was exemplary too.
Bellingham’s stats
Here’s Jude Bellingham’s game by numbers.
He had a stonker. What a player.
More magic from Bellingham
With his match-winning goal this evening, Jude Bellingham has become just the second player ever to score at both a World Cup and a European Championship before the age of 21.
In achieving the feat, the Real Madrid star joins compatriot Michael Owen who did the business at both France ’98 and Euro 2000.
Bellingham also becomes the fifth England player to score his country’s opening goal at a tournament after Bobby Charlton, Alan Shearer, Gary Lineker and Bryan Robson.
Kane: We stood up to test
England captain Harry Kane admitted that his team were up against it for long periods in the second half, but was pleased with the resilience shown.
Addressing the win, he added that the three points will go a long way to ensuring England make it successfully out of Group C.
We knew it was going to be a tough game. Serbia pose a lot of threats and have some good players. They will make it a battle for you and I think we dealt with it really well. There was a spell in the second half where we got camped in our box and we found it hard to get out but it was an important win tonight.
Harry Kane
Match Stats from Arena AufSchalke
England have now won the opening game in all four of their major tournaments played under Gareth Southgate.
They had only recorded five such victories across their other 23 major tournament appearances (W5 D11 L7).
Lions leaders of the pack
There will undoubtedly be a post-mortem on the performance ahead of Thursday’s fixture with Denmark, but England are two points clear at the top of Group C.
And with four third-place teams progressing from the group stage, the result could already be enough to land a spot in the knockout round of 16.
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
