This weekend Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland will take to an immaculate pitch at the Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, each competing to progress their team to a World Cup semi-final.

For England it would be only their third semi-final appearance in the competition since triumphing on home soil in 1966. For Norway it would be their first, ever.

With so much at stake, each nation will turn to their Ballon d’Or nominated superstar to make a seismic difference, both players having already done so several times over in the Americas this summer.

Bellingham has scored four goals and been integral to the Three Lions’ successful navigation of their group, DR Congo and Mexico.

He has been voted Man of the Match three times, with one of those decorations earned amidst the fiery environs of the Azteca last Monday.

As for Haaland, he has put himself squarely in the Golden Boot race, netting seven times, four of them match-winners.   

Bellingham and Haaland combined World Cup numbers so far

Goals and assists: 13

Shots on target: 21

Key passes: 14

Sprints: 416

Whatever the outcome when the final whistle blows both men will no doubt seek the other out and embrace, perhaps swap shirts, these former team-mates at Borussia Dortmund firm friends as much as they are rivals.

Having established themselves as world-class talents in tandem in Germany it is a friendship grounded in mutual respect and admiration.

A phenomena emerges  

In late-December 2019, Borussia Dortmund signed Erling Haaland from Red Bull Salzburg for a fee in the region of €20m.

The teenager had already gained international fame for his goal-scoring exploits, including scoring a hat-trick on his Champions League debut against Genk. There was additionally all manner of records broken at Molde, in his native Norway.

On joining the Bundesliga club, prolificacy was not demanded of a player so young but, given his notably high strike-rate to that juncture, certainly it was implied.

It took Haaland just 23 minutes to justify the considerable hype when he made his debut as a second-half substitute against FC Augsburg and found the back of the net three times.

A week later, he scored twice more, again coming off the bench to do so.

By the end of January the forward was awarded the Bundesliga Player of the Month merit. His game-time amounted to a mere 59 minutes.

A brace against PSG in the Champions League a fortnight later further enhanced the striker’s reputation.

By the season’s end – for Salzburg and Dortmund combined - he had converted 44 goals in 40 outings.

Erling Haaland’s Dortmund stats

Games: 67

Goals: 62

Assists: 16

Shots: 205

Shots on target: 1.8 per 90

The complete ascent

The following June, Dortmund again invested in highly-promising youth, signing Jude Bellingham from Birmingham City for €25m. In hindsight, after the multiple ballon d’Or nominations and countless plaudits, the fee can be viewed as a steal but it made him the most expensive 17-year-old in football’s history.

Bellingham was enticed by Dortmund, over other interested parties, because of their track record in giving young players game-time and his thinking was sound in this regard.

In his first season, the midfielder made 29 appearances in the league and 10 in the Champions League. In his second campaign, he was a near ever-present, only missing out when rested.

In October 2022 he was handed the captain’s armband, making him the youngest skipper in Bundesliga history.

Growing in stature with every passing week, Bellingham blossomed in Germany, becoming the all-action star we are so familiar with today.

He controlled games; despite often coming up against opponents twice his age, and it was around this period when media outlets began to refer to him as ‘complete’.

He was still just 19 years of age.

In 2023, three pivotal events occurred that reflected his stratospheric rise.

He was voted the Bundesliga Player of the Year. He won the Kopa Trophy, confirming him as a special young talent. And Real Madrid made him a Galactico, for the princely sum of €103m.

Jude Bellingham’s Dortmund stats

Games: 92

Goals: 12

Assists: 15

Shots: 143

Shots on target: 1.6 per 90

A kinship of excellence

Haaland and Bellingham played together at Dortmund for two seasons, sharing 4742 minutes of game-time together on the pitch.

In that time they won a DFB-Pokal trophy together, took Die Schwarzgelben to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and ran Bayern Munich close for a league title.

On the pitch they synchronised to devastating effort while their playful relationship regularly made for good internet content.

Like the time, Haaland was being interviewed and Bellingham dived in, stage left, for a kiss on the cheek.

Or the time Bellingham got into a heated row with an opponent, a split-second before Haaland jumped in, acting as his minder.

“He is incredible”

That was Haaland’s assessment of his team-mate in 2021.

“The player you see isn’t a fluke. He works his socks off every day and he’s an even better guy than he is a striker.”

That is Bellingham, reciprocating the love.

The England star also revealed in 2024 that Haaland would text him prior and after big games. Joking around. Lifting his spirits. Congratulating.

From the outside looking in, it is easy to see why this friendship took hold, their journeys a mirror of the other.

Both were exceptionally gifted individuals, burdened with the enormous expectation to fulfil those gifts. And they did.

This weekend’s quarter-final clash will be compelling and competitive, with each player giving their all. After, there will only be respect and enduring friendship.