BRYONY GORDON: Why so many women like me have fallen for Jude Bellingham – and it’s not the reason you think

The moment I fell for Jude Bellingham during this World Cup wasn’t when he slotted in his sixth goal of the tournament on Saturday night, helping to send England through to the semi-final.

Nor was it when he managed two goals in just two minutes during that fevered game against Mexico, an achievement that would land him – and England – in the history books as the first team to beat Mexico at the Azteca Stadium in a World Cup, a match many declared to be our greatest victory on foreign soil.

It wasn’t even when I saw that picture of the 23-year-old training with Harry Kane last week, his body rippling in a pair of ‘blood flow restriction’ shorts that made his thighs look… well, let’s not go there. At 46, I’m double his age, and it’s not a good look to be drooling over a man young enough to be your son.

Nevertheless, I have to confess that I’ve fallen head over heels for Jude Bellingham, though not for the reasons you may think. The moment I realised I adored this young man from Stourbridge was when he stopped to speak to a disabled reporter that most of his team-mates had previously ignored.

Manu Gutierrez, a Venezuelan who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, had tried to put questions to various England players after their win over DC Congo.

One by one, they filed past him, ignoring his pleas for an interview. It was Bellingham who stopped to chat to him, after hearing the reporter mention the South American nation, recently devastated by two earthquakes that killed more than 4,000 people.

Leaning down so he was at the same level as Gutierrez, he began speaking in fluent Spanish, sending love and luck to the Venezuelan people.

And there in one brief moment was why so many women are swooning over Jude Bellingham.

Not because of his chiselled good looks – although these certainly won’t have done him any harm – but because, throughout this tournament, he’s provided a refreshing counterpoint to the toxic figures of the manosphere who have gained such traction in recent years on social media.

Indeed, Bellingham has been much-needed during a tournament that started off mired in controversy.

For many of us, the most problematic issue was FIFA allowing two men awaiting trial for rape to take part. Ghana’s Thomas Partey has been charged with seven counts of rape and one count of sexual assault while Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi will stand trial in France over the alleged rape of a woman in 2023. Both players deny all allegations.

Football has long been a hotbed of misogyny and racism. Which is why Bellingham’s success at this World Cup means so much.

For those of us who came of age during the Nineties and Noughties – when you were more likely to find England players in compromising situations in nightclubs than you were anywhere near the World Cup semi-finals – bilingual Bellingham represents a momentous shift in a game that has previously given us Gazza and hooliganism.

Forget beer bellies, white vans and drunk blokes disgracing themselves: Bellingham is at the vanguard of a new breed of footballers who are redefining masculinity at this World Cup.

Whether it’s the unapologetic emotion displayed by team Cabo Verde or Declan Rice playing through nerve pain in his lower back, the 2026 World Cup players have modelled a different kind of masculinity to young boys increasingly at risk of the misogynistic rhetoric espoused online by figures such as Andrew Tate.

Take French captain, Kylian Mbappe. When asked in a post-match interview last week why he had missed a penalty against Morocco, he could have sulked and stropped. Instead, he admitted he had lost focus and that it had been a learning opportunity for future games. Then there’s the ‘bromance’ between Bellingham and Erling Haaland, who played together at Borussia Dortmund.

Such open displays of affection would have previously been unthinkable in a sport that has long struggled with homophobia. But the pair have not been afraid to revel in their friendship – and, as a result, social media has been awash with memes describing their relationship as ‘Cleated rivalry’. If either player was bothered by this insinuation, they didn’t show it, instead playing up to the cameras in the heat of Miami (by hugging during the match).

Every day on social media, eagle-eyed fans dig up more examples of the midfielder’s kindness (another viral clip showed him protecting a young mascot in a wheelchair from the rain by giving him his jacket).

There have been attempts to paint Bellingham as a petulant party boy, but the Real Madrid star seems to have been in a settled relationship since early last year, with model Ashlyn Castro, who at 28 is five years his senior (another sign of his maturity, of course).

Our admiration for him grows ever larger when we learn that he is close to his mother Denise, 57, whom he yesterday credited with helping him keep his cool on the pitch. ‘My mum’s been telling me all week to watch my language, watch my tackles, watch my face, watch with my emotions,’ said Bellingham, who would have been suspended for the semi-final if he’d received a yellow card during the Norway game. ‘She drilled it into me all week about being careful of that yellow card.’

It’s clear that in Bellingham, we’re not just watching a superstar midfielder. We’re also watching someone who has the power to do a lot of good in a country that feels more divided than ever.

It seems incredible to think that just before the tournament his critics were wondering if Thomas Tuchel should have even included him in the squad.

To get the true measure of Bellingham, it’s worth reading an interview he gave last October, to mark World Mental Health Day.

‘I’ve felt vulnerable, doubted myself and needed someone to talk to – and instead I’ve tried to keep up this macho athlete image of “I don’t need anyone”. The truth is that I do, everyone does.

‘If we can show vulnerability, then it opens up a bigger conversation for people who are struggling in the darkness. It’s the duty of people like me… to be role models.’

Some have accused him of arrogance but, over the past few weeks, Bellingham has proved he has the talent to back up any bravado.

‘I always try to keep my confidence high… I won’t complete every pass, I won’t beat every player,’ he said in that same interview. ‘The more comfortable you are with that, then the more comfortable you are with knowing you’re not perfect.’

Oh, but you absolutely are perfect, Jude. You absolutely are.