10 big-name stars Jude Bellingham played alongside at England Under-15 level
Jude Bellingham was famously prodigious as a youngster, having become Birmingham City’s youngest-ever debutant 38 days after his 16th birthday back in August 2019.
It’s not taken him long to rise to the very top, becoming a £100million Real Madrid Galactico, a Champions League winner, La Liga’s Player of the Season and one of the leading contenders for this year’s Ballon d’Or all before his 21st birthday.
He’s also one of England’s standout players, as evidenced by his man-of-the-match performance in the Three Lions’ Euro 2024 opening victory over Serbia.
But years before his professional debut, the Stourbridge-born midfielder was making waves in scouting circles at England youth level. He made his debut for England’s Under-15s in December 2016, aged 13, and quickly began catching the eye among some other talented prospects that have since gone on to make names for themselves at senior level.
We’ve revisited 10 big-name players that Bellingham played alongside across his eight appearances at England Under-15 level.
Morgan Rogers
Bellingham made his debut off the bench in a 5-2 victory over Turkey, coming on at the hour mark for Claudio Osorio – who, if you’re wondering, is currently unattached but has recently been called up to represent East Timor.
At that point in the match, Rogers – lining up on the left of a front three – had just scored his second goal to put Kevin Betsy’s Young Lions 3-2 up.
A fellow Midlandser, the Halesowen-born forward was in West Brom’s academy at the time and later spent four years developing his skills in Man City’s youth set-up. After making a name for himself at Middlesbrough, he signed with Aston Villa for £8million and could find himself up against Bellingham’s Los Blancos in the Champions League next season.
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Jamal Musiala
“There’s a young lad on Fulham’s books called Jamal Musiala (he’s about 11 years old) who is ludicrously good!” tweeted Times sports reporter Elizabeth Ammon back in October 2013. Hell of a shout, that.
A short while later, young Musiala was tearing it up at youth level with England. He actually came on alongside Bellingham at 60 minutes against Turkey, replacing Cole Palmer, and scored their fifth goal.
The winger later underlined his devastating potential with a hat-trick for England’s Under-15s in a 3-1 victory over the Netherlands in December 2017, a match in which Bellingham started up as captain.
Stuttgart-born Musiala then made a couple of appearances for Germany at Under-16 level before switching back to England up to Under-21 level, going back to Germany at senior level in 2021.
After spells in Southampton and Chelsea’s academies, he joined Bayern Munich in 2019 and has developed into one of the most exciting youngsters in all of European football.
Cole Palmer
Palmer lined up at centre-forward in Bellingham’s England Under-15 debut, although he didn’t make it onto the scoresheet.
Wythenshawe’s very own was on Man City’s books at the time. He progressed to make 41 appearances for his boyhood club but failed to nail down a regular starting spot under Pep Guardiola and left for Chelsea last summer.
After a sensational debut season in which he scored 25 goals for the Blues, Palmer is now in England’s Euro 2024 squad alongside Bellingham and could yet prove Gareth Southgate’s secret weapon in Germany.
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Yunus Musah
Born in New York City, raised in London, Musah is a product of Arsenal’s Hale End academy but he made his breakthrough at Valencia.
He progressed through the England youth ranks from Under-15 level up to Under-18s before making the switch to the United States senior team in 2020.
Nowadays, Musah is a regular starter at AC Milan and is one to watch out for at the Copa America in the coming days.
Fabio Carvalho
Born and raised in Lisbon, Carvalho was once on Benfica’s books but moved to London as a youngster and later spent time with non-league Balham before joining Fulham.
He was an unused substitute the day that Bellingham made his England Under-15 debut but did start a second friendly against Turkey a few days later.
Carvalho continued to represent England up to Under-18 level before making the switch to Portugal’s Under-21s. He still awaits his full senior international debut.
It will be interesting to see what this summer holds for Carvalho under new Liverpool boss Arne Slot, having spent last season out on loan while seemingly unfancied by Jurgen Klopp.
Valentino Livramento
Yet another South London prospect, Livramento came through at Chelsea and was named their Academy Player of the Year before moving to Southampton.
Livramento’s showed promise at St. Mary’s but was stunted by a serious ACL injury. Nowadays he’s serving as Kieran Trippier’s understudy at Newcastle and it would be no surprise to see him go on to play for England.
He’s only ever represented the Three Lions at youth level but is also eligible to play for Portugal and Scotland.
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Hayden Hackney
“I think Hayden can go on to become whatever he wants,” says Middlesbrough veteran Jonny Howson.
“I think he will definitely play in the Premier League, but I’ll be honest, I think he could play for a top-half or even top-six clubs. With the potential that he’s got, and the attitude he has got, there’s no reason that can’t be achievable for him.”
Hackney is about a year older than his older than his old England youth team-mate Bellingham, serving a reminder that rising stars’ trajectories and routes to the top can be varied.
Tottenham are said to be interested in signing the Boro midfielder. Watch this space.
Harvey Elliott
Elliott came off the bench and scored an equaliser against Italy in Bellingham’s final appearance at Under-15 level in May 2018. About 12 months later, he became the Premier League’s youngest debutant with Fulham and has since notched over a hundred appearances for Liverpool.
He still awaits a senior England debut but he’s remained a regular for the Young Lions in recent years, having turned out for the Under-21s 20 times since 2022.
Samuel Iling-Junior
The Islington-born forward is reportedly set to return to England with reports that Aston Villa are set to involve him in a swap deal with Juventus for Douglas Luiz.
Iling-Junior, 20, made 24 Serie A appearances for the Old Lady last term and is now a mainstay of England’s Under-21s.
Charlie Patino
“Of all the years I’ve been scouting, he’s the best kid I’ve ever seen,” an Arsenal scout once said of Patino.
The Hale End graduate hasn’t quite kicked on to reach those heights expected and has been tipped to leave his boyhood Gunners this summer after impressing on loan at Swansea last season.
He’s another that’s gradually risen up through the England youth levels, currently turning out for the Under-21s.