Jude Bellingham sets new international football record

By starting against Croatia in England's FIFA World Cup 2026 opening match, Jude Bellingham has become the youngest European player to play in four major international tournaments.

The Real Madrid midfielder was named in Thomas Tuchel's starting lineup to play Croatia in the Three Lions' Group L fixture in Dallas on Wednesday 17 June.

By starting, he surpassed Germany's Jamal Musiala as the youngest men's player to in featuring at four tournaments (World Cup and EUROs) who had set a new record earlier in the 2026 World Cup when he played in their group game against Curaçao earlier in the same week.

Bellingham made his tournament bow as a teenager at UEFA EURO 2020 in the summer of 2021, before featuring at the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar and then UEFA EURO 2024 in Germany.

Another England player to feature in the list is Michael Owen, who played at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups as well as EURO 2000 and EURO 2024.

Youngest European players to play in four major tournaments

Jude Bellingham (England): 22y 353d
Jamal Musiala (Germany): 23y 108d
Pedri (Spain): 23y 202d
Jérémy Doku (Belgium): 24y 19d
Michael Owen (England): 24y 182d
Lukas Podolski (Germany): 25y 9d