{"id":538081,"date":"2026-07-12T18:40:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T18:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/538081\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T18:40:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T18:40:23","slug":"bellingham-key-to-englands-success-in-world-cup-quarterfinals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/538081\/","title":{"rendered":"Bellingham Key to England\u2019s Success in World Cup Quarterfinals"},"content":{"rendered":"

The quarterfinals are in the book and the lineup for the semifinals are set. Spain will face France on Tuesday and Argentina will face England on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

But before we get there, what does the data say about who dominated Saturday\u2019s quarterfinals matches? Who were the most valuable players?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Northeastern University\u2019s NetSI Sport research group helps shed light on a few standouts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Norway versus England key player<\/p>\n

Jude Bellingham<\/p>\n

It should be no surprise that Jude Bellingham is included in this list. The English center attacking midfielder scored both of his country\u2019s goals in its 2-1 match against Norway.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He scored the first one in the 47th minute of the first half after receiving a pass from\u00a0Anthony Gordon and carrying it to Norway\u2019s penalty area to equalize the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The goal perfectly illustrated Bellingham\u2019s style of play, according to NetSI Sport. He often operates centrally and deep in the pitch and charges into his enemy\u2019s box at great speed. These days, he\u2019s operating more like a second striker than a typical midfielder, NetSI Sport argued.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bellingham is ranked in the 99th percentile of top sprinters per match during the tournament so far, sprinting on average 55 sprints per match, according to the data.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His second goal, which he delivered in the 93rd minute, is a testament to his spatial awareness and ability to capitalize on enemy weak points, NetSI Sport said. He scored the shot after Norway\u2019s goalie Orjan Nyland fumbled the ball after saving an attempted goal from England\u2019s Morgan Rogers.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"Possession maps showing the buildup to Jude Bellingham\u2019s two goals in England\u2019s quarterfinal game against Norway. Courtesy of NetSI Sport<\/p>\n

Bellingham, Paredes key players in World Cup quarterfinal matchups\"\"\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Argentina versus Switzerland\u00a0<\/p>\n

Leandro Paredes\u00a0<\/p>\n

While he wasn\u2019t directly responsible for any of Argentina\u2019s three goals against Switzerland, defensive midfielder Leandro Paredes served as the country\u2019s metronome of sorts, completing a total of 111 passes during the game, the most of any individual player in the quarterfinals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"A passing map showing Leandro Paredes\u2019 passes during Argentina\u2019s game against Switzerland. Courtesy of NetSI Sport<\/p>\n

Bellingham, Paredes key players in World Cup quarterfinal matchups\"\"\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Pardes is a key asset in securing Argentina\u2019s possession of the ball and slowing down the rate of play to find dangerous areas and scoring opportunities for some of the team\u2019s key attacking players, including Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While he doesn\u2019t often create assists, he helps originate some of the team\u2019s most successful plays that lead to goals. He is ranked in the 100th percentile of players who rank highly in threats created, a measure to quantify a player\u2019s ability to move a ball into threatening attacking positions, NetSI Sport said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"This bar chart shows Leandro Paredes\u2019 World Cup profile. He ranks highly in threat creation, progressive passing and progressive carries at World Cup 2026. Courtesy of NetSI Sport<\/p>\n

Bellingham, Paredes key players in World Cup quarterfinal matchups\"\"\"\"\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The quarterfinals are in the book and the lineup for the semifinals are set. Spain will face France…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538082,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[19712,85,46,105,101640],"class_list":["post-538081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-fifa","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}