STOURBRIDGE, UK: As England gears up for the World Cup semifinal Wednesday, there will be one name on everyone’s lips: Jude Bellingham, the star midfielder who powered the Three Lions through to the marquee clash against Argentina. In packed stadiums in North America and pubs back home, people belt out the Beatles’ “Hey Jude” and don t-shirts with slogans like “Bend it like Bellingham” — a play on the iconic 2000s film “Bend it like Beckham.” But nowhere is the 23-year-old midfielder more feted than his hometown of Stourbridge, a quiet market town in central England, west of Birmingham.

OPINION: So what do Jude Bellingham’s critics do now? How will they dispose of the ashes that their asinine, unjustified criticisms of him have now been reduced to?

In vista della semifinale dei Mondiali di calcio dell’Inghilterra