Jobe Bellingham calls first England call-up 'beyond words' as brother reunion beckons

Jobe Bellingham has been called into the England senior squad for the first time, with Thomas Tuchel selecting the Borussia Dortmund midfielder on the recommendation of his older brother Jude ahead of Nations League fixtures against Croatia and Spain.

Should Jobe feature in either match, the Bellinghams will become the 22nd set of brothers to represent England, a milestone Jobe says defies easy expression. “I don’t have the words, really,” he told the Football Association’s England app. “I think it’s only emotion that could describe it, and, hopefully, if that time does come, you’ll see a lot of emotion from people, and definitely from my family.”

The 19-year-old had been earning consistent recognition through strong performances for England Under-21s and at club level with Dortmund, but still expected to remain in the youth setup rather than earn a senior nod. The call from Tuchel arrived last Thursday as Jobe was driving home from training.

“I saw a message pop up in my car and it said, ‘Hi, Jobe, it’s Thomas Tuchel’,” he recalled. “I was, as you can imagine, ecstatic and so excited and then when I took the call later on, it was just quite surreal. You don’t really know what to do with yourself in that moment, but you’re just so pleased and I couldn’t stop smiling.”

Tuchel confirmed that Jude had flagged his younger brother’s progress to him, with the Real Madrid midfielder having previously described the prospect of playing alongside Jobe as the highlight of his career. Jobe was careful to frame the family dimension as a bonus rather than the headline.

“I can’t ignore it, but obviously with Jude being here too, it’s a great, great feeling for the family,” he said. “It’s quite special, to be honest. It’s such a huge bonus on top of something that’s already so special and so great. To be called up for England is a dream itself.”

Jobe added that he felt his performances had been steadily making the senior call-up more realistic with each passing week, and that he takes pride in having represented England at every age group on the way to this point.