England's Bellingham, Norway's Ødegaard have World Cup at their feet - ESPN

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — At first glance, England's Jude Bellingham and Norway's Martin Ødegaard are vastly different footballers.

Real Madrid star Bellingham is the bullish powerhouse prone to the spectacular, so much so that he revealed aspirations to one day play James Bond.

Arsenal captain Ødegaard is the quiet conductor able to orchestrate games to his will, manipulating the ball and his opponents through a mastery of timing and precise passing. His favourite film is «Inception,» the Christopher Nolan movie in which the lead characters attempt to navigate a world of dreams to achieve a seemingly impossible task. Guiding Norway to the World Cup quarterfinals might feel similar.

But whatever their differences, both players have endured a similar year or so as their national team's No. 10: maligned and questioned at every turn, yet now thriving at the biggest tournament of all. Saturday's clash between Norway and England in the searing Miami heat gives both the chance to extend this narrative into the final week of the World Cup.

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Bellingham's ascent is a credit to the 23-year-old's renewed application, but also a validation of England manager Thomas Tuchel's man-management skills. It is barely a year on from Tuchel describing how his mother found some of Bellingham's behaviour «repulsive,» four months before dropping him from the England squad in October.

That move — which came 48 hours after he was named England men's Player of the Year for 2024-45 — was explained in part by a lack of game time following shoulder