DALLAS — Let’s call it early – England’s anthem of the summer is going to be “Wonderwall”.
It is part of the Football Association’s playlist out here in the United States, one of a handful of tracks picked to be played before and after all of England’s games.
With Thomas Tuchel keen to talk up his side “connecting” with supporters at home and in the stadium during the World Cup campaign, this stuff matters.
What a moment!
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 17, 2026
Jude Bellingham singing along to Wonderwall as the England fans serenade the teampic.twitter.com/A1oPoiZ9BH
And it was the Oasis throwback that seemed to capture the imagination most after England’s rollercoaster Group L opener, the gargantuan big screen at the AT&T Stadium panning to Jude Bellingham singing along to it after his man of the match performance.
No one in this England squad provokes more debate than Bellingham. But maybe, he is going to be the one that saves us.
How else to interpret the importance of a player who embodies the sort of confidence that Tuchel wants this England team to play with?
Bellingham was brilliant in Dallas, scoring and driving a second-half performance as good as any England World Cup curtain-raiser in history.
But it is what he represents – a weapons-grade belief in his ability to deliver in the big moments – that is just as important to a group that is attempting to win a World Cup on foreign soil, something no England team has ever done before.
That will require belief, something that Tuchel felt they lacked in an imperfect first half against Croatia.
His No 2 Anthony Barry let the cat out of the bag when he told ITV at half-time that England had been too “fearful” to put their plan into practice.
But neither of them were talking about Bellingham, a player who consistently puts himself in the firing line by taking risks where others might play it safe.
The best teams might win World Cups, but there will come a moment when England are under the pump and require a moment of individual brilliance to swing momentum back in their favour.
History would suggest it is Bellingham who will deliver it, just as he did in Dallas with his brilliant, barnstorming goal that teed up England’s dominant second half display.
It seems like a fever dream now that, for much of the autumn and even the south Florida build-up to this World Cup, his place in the team was the subject of intense debate.
Incredibly, some would not have brought him to the States at all for the crime of not particularly like being substituted.
He might have resisted the temptation to indulge Bellingham in press conferences but that was never, ever on Tuchel’s radar.
He is big on the collective, with players lining up to talk about an England “brotherhood” out here in America.
But when push comes to shove, Tuchel’s actions have betrayed his true feelings on Bellingham, a special talent whose skillset would be accommodated in every other World Cup squad out here.
First he recalled Jordan Henderson to the squad, which brought one of Bellingham’s closest friends and allies back into the England fray.
Henderson’s presence here is as much about chemistry as ability – Roy Keane once memorably asked whether he was there to “play card tricks” and keep the players entertained – but Bellingham appears a happier, more relaxed presence with him back in the group.
Then Tuchel created a system that relies on deep-lying runners and risks, which is essentially Bellingham’s game.
It means he sometimes draw attention for mistakes – and he was absolutely culpable in the messy build-up to Martin Baturina’s goal – but he always comes back for more.
It is a while since England had a player capable of shaping a World Cup in the way that Kylian Mbappe did in 2018 or Lionel Messi did in 2022.
But Bellingham is in that category for England, especially now that him and Tuchel are singing from the same hymn sheet.
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It certainly seemed that way during the full-time singalong in Dallas.
When the guitar licks of “Wonderwall” subsided, the next track on the playlist was the Beatles’ “Hey Jude”.
It felt pitch perfect, just like England’s protagonist.
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