Not even 21

Bellingham: Neither Ronaldo nor Messi could do that

Jude Bellingham(Bild: AP)

Neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Lionel Messi have managed that. As of Monday evening, Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham has a decisive advantage over the two all-time greats. And he's not even 21 years old yet.

In fact, the Englishman was named "Breakthrough of the Year" at the Laureus Sports Awards Gala on Monday. Across all sports, mind you, not just in the soccer category. The other nominees were swimmer Qin Haiyang, soccer player Salma Paralluelo, middle-distance runner Josh Kerr, soccer player Linda Caicedo and tennis player Coco Gauff. The awards were presented by a jury of 69 athletes from the Laureus Academy, including one Austrian, Franz Klammer.

Bellignham (right) at the Laureus Gala in Madrid with sprint god Usain Bolt(Bild: AP)

Alcaraz and Co.
Bellingham, not even 21 years old, thus joined a list of prominent names. A selection of his predecessors in the "Breakthrough" category from the past: Carlos Alcaraz, Emma Raducanu, Patrick Hahomes, Egan Bernal, Lewis Hamilton, Rafael Nadal. The names Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are not included in this list - although the category has existed since 2000 and 21 footballers have been nominated since then, including Pedri, Ansu Fati and Kylian Mbappe.

Bellingham has hit the ground running at Real Madrid. Just last weekend, he secured another important win for the "White Ballet" with his last-minute goal against arch-rivals Barcelona. It was the Englishman's 17th goal of the season.