England star Jude Bellingham beats three Spanish World Cup winners to clinch SM's Midfielder of the Tournament prize

England star Jude Bellingham has beaten three members of Spain's World Cup-winning squad to clinch the World Cup 2026 Midfielder of the Tournament prize in Sports Mole's Readers' Awards.

Bellingham became the first Englishman to score seven goals in a single World Cup, reaching that impressive tally with a superb solo strike in Saturday's 6-4 win over France in the third-place playoff.

The 22-year-old starred with back-to-back braces in England's hard-fought victories over Mexico and Norway in the last 16 and quarter-finals respectively. 

Bellingham's efforts have been acknowledged by our audience, claiming a 52% share of the Midfielder of the Tournament vote in our Readers' Awards.

The Real Madrid man beat three members of the Spanish squad that lifted the World Cup, including Golden Ball winner Rodri, who collected 26% of the vote.

Argentina's Enzo Fernandez finished in third spot with 13%, while the Spanish duo of Mikel Merino (3%) and Pedro (2%) had to settle for fourth and fifth place respectively. 

Meanwhile, Norway's Martin Odegaard (2%), Switzerland's Johan Manzambi (1%) and Aurelien Tchouameni (1%) have made up the bottom three.