Never mess with Messi: A lesson Spain can learn from Bellingham’s bravado

England didn't lose because of Bellingham winding up Messi but he was guilty of misjudging the depth of the still water he had blindly walked into. (AP Photo)

6 min readJul 18, 2026 07:46 AM IST

First published on: Jul 18, 2026 at 07:46 AM IST

A cold chilling stare, lips tightly pursed and a slow shake of the head. That was all Messi did after a long and animated argument with England star Jude Bellingham over a foul in the closing moments of the first half, deep into stoppage time. Those who know, know – this was an early sign of a storm about to strike a football field. This time it was at Atlanta, and it would take almost until the very end of the night for that storm to break.

England didn’t lose because of Bellingham winding up Messi but he was guilty of misjudging the depth of the still and silent water he had blindly walked into.