Jude Bellingham’s spectacular 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign reached new heights in the quarterfinal against Norway. The midfielder scored twice in Miami on Saturday, including the winner in extra time, to secure a fourth-ever semi-final appearance for England.
Bellingham’s second brace on the trot has taken him to six goals in the ongoing edition, level with captain Harry Kane and only two behind the leaders in the golden boot race. With his various other midfield contributions to boot, the Real Madrid man is at present one of the favourites to go home with the golden ball.
And he has done it all sporting Adidas cleats. During the tournament, Bellingham has been flaunting the Adidas Predator Elite, donned in some custom tournament colourways.
While the brand would usually be ecstatic at the idea, their Chief Operating Officer Bjoern Gulden found himself torn on Saturday. Afterall, the executive himself is Norwegian, the very team Bellingham unabashedly knocked out after the Viking’s best ever display at a World Cup.
Gulden made sure he did not let his agony go unacknowledged. The 61-year-old put up a story on his Instagram after the result with a picture of him hugging Bellingham pre-game.
The caption cheekily read, “Jude… you destroyed me last night… in our shoes😂”
The laughing emoji at the end of it was certainly doing a lot of heavy lifting.
Not one to let the chance for some banter slip, Bellingham promptly reposted the story along with a “Sorry Boss🤣❤️” to soften the blow.
However, Gulden was not yet done. The CEO reposted a graphic of Bellingham from the official Adidas handle reading “Miami Twice” with the caption “You killed me Jude” along with a Norwegian flag.
The tongue-in-cheek interaction allowed Gulden to express his personality and loyalty to his Nordic roots, while being a clever sponsor activation to further the hype around Adidas.
Bellingham in recent years has appeared as one of the faces of the brand, the fact confirmed by major campaigns the 23-year-old signed earlier this year. Since then, the Brummie boy has featured in promotional material alongside the likes of Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham.
Bellingham was also one of the key characters in the “Backyard Legends” campaign released by Adidas prior to the tournament. Headlined by Hollywood superstar Timothee Chalamet, Bellingham was joined by Lionel Messi and Yamine Lamal amongst others.
The association between Bellingham and the German sportswear brand stretches all the way back to the Englishman’s time at Birmingham City.
In 2024, Adidas had also released an exclusive Bellingham clothing line featuring the footballer’s monogram logo. The launch was followed by a special edition of the Adidas Gazelle in collaboration with him a few months later.
Bellingham will no doubt be relying on his Predators once again to express his magic when England take on Argentina in the semi-final at Atlanta Stadium on Wednesday. A win would take the Europeans to their first World Cup final since they lifted the Jules Rimet trophy in 1966.
