Jobe Bellingham – stepping out of his brother’s shadow

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2026 has been the year that the world has finally come to the acceptance of something Dortmund fans will have known since Jude Bellingham was 17-years-old. That he is one of the best players in the world. Not just one of the best midfielders. One of the very best, most impactful players.

Bellingham was phenomenal at the 2026 World Cup, dancing his way around opponents, linking up with Harry Kane beautifully, and scoring some of the all-important goals.

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His brother, born two years later, has had to watch all of that in his shadow.

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Jobe Bellingham, who wears “Jobe” on the back of his jersey to distinguish himself from his brother, has followed a similar career path. Starting at Birmingham City for the first time at the age of 16, Jobe eventually attracted the attention of Borussia Dortmund. Only in his case, after a couple of successful years in the Championship with Sunderland.

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Instead of moving up with The Black Cats to the Premier League in 2025-26, Bellingham came to Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund, to follow in the footsteps of his brother.

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The 6’3 midfielder had a solid first season at Dortmund despite steep competition in the side from the likes of Pascal Groß, Marcel Sabitzer and Felix Nmecha. He operated as more of a game-controlling midfielder for the team, using his fantastic ground covering and mobility to get about the pitch on the defensive end. In his 32 matches, he scored none, and assisted just 1 goal.

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This season, Jobe’s evolved his game. He’s finally stepping out of his brother’s shadow, and making his own mark as one of BVB’s most important stars. His performance against Bayern Munich in the derby this past weekend was immaculate, and demonstrated that Jobe, too, might just become a world beater.

JOBE’S PERFORMANCE AGAINST BAYERN

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Dortmund have slowly built a magnificent team under Niko Kovac, one that holds in stark contrast to Dortmund teams of the past. There are no recognizable superstars, with Gregor Kobel, Nico Schlotterbeck and Serhou Guirassy the closest thing to that. There’s no Marco Reus, Achraf Hakimi, Erling Haaland, Ousmane Demble, or Jude Bellingham to get the team out of a hole when they’re not playing well. Those types of players, who immediately placed themselves among the world’s best, are hard to come by in the Dortmund eleven these days.

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Instead, Kovac has built a team working in harmony to defend properly, and create chances through energy and intensity, rather than the relentlessly beautiful orchestra we witnessed during the Reus and Lewandowski era, or the Sancho and Haaland era.

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There’s still much in the way of beautiful one-touch football in the final third, but Dortmund have to rely on scoring the ugly goal far more these days.

Jobe Bellingham clearly sits somewhere in between. He’s one of the few that can now carve a game open on his own, but his work rate and intensity sit with so much more importance than his touch of class on the dribble.

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In fact, this might be the season that we start to witness that next great superstar to come out of the Dortmund ranks.

Against Bayern Munich on Saturday, Jobe took matters into his own hands from an advanced position. Playing behind the striker as one of the two ’10’s’ in Kovac’s 3-4-2-1, Jobe had more license to get on the ball, carry it forward, and create chances.

This is something that he’s quite comfortable doing. Like his brother, Jobe is magnificent at driving forward on the ball and utilizing those long legs to speedily shift it away from defenders.

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One of my favourite moments of the match came with him under the pressure of three players, and Pavlovic about to make the tackle.

He smartly read the situation, shifted the ball cleverly around Pavlovic, and broke free long enough to get away a shot.

It didn’t find the back of the net, and neither, unfortunately, did his other few great chances to score.

Actually, he did score. But Carney Chukwuemeka had accidentally karate chopped Bayern’s keeper in the face when Bellingham had fired the unstoppable shot in from close range. That goal was sadly chopped off. But it was one of many demonstrations that the 23-year-old Brit was really ready to make his mark and announce himself on the match.

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Benefiting from that advanced role, Jobe was able to use his mobility to connect with Serhou Guirassy – a magnificent link-up striker who thrives off shielding the ball from defenders with his back to goal. As Guirassy dropped in to pick up possession, Bellingham would often sprint in behind, looking for the spaces to receive.

As a player that likes to have the ball at his feet, placing him in the inside ’10’ role allowed him to use that brilliance closer to goal. He’s great at keeping a game ticking along and playing nice passes out from the back, but you can also utilize that same skillset further forward, where he can quickly make decisions to release himself from pressure and play passes into space for others.

Beyond his contributions in the final third to dribble, carry, play nice one-touch passes, and to score a goal that should have given his team the lead, Bellingham played his part defensively.

That mobility and intensity really is just so key to the way Dortmund defend, and Bellingham embodies that with the way he presses from the front. Just like this moment, where he read the goalkeeper’s pass out from the back to Pavlovic, and immediately stepped until he intercepted the ball.

This kind of energy and intensity is one of many reasons to include him higher up the pitch, where he can quickly cover ground and make it a nightmare for opposition teams to play out from the back.

But it also massively benefits his team when he’s able to use that mobility to quickly cut off passes further down the field. Bellingham’s making 1.7 interceptions per 90, with BVB conceding just 0.65 goals per 90 with him on the pitch.

Combine that with his fantastic ability (and height) to defend and attack in the air, and you have a player that like his brother, is fantastically well-rounded.

This might be the year that Jude Bellingham has fully announced himself to a worldwide audience of those that remark on the very best in the world. But it might also be the season that his brother Jobe shows what he’s capable of too. For now, Jobe Bellingham is certainly playing his part in Dortmund’s fantastic start, as they look to challenge Bayern Munich for the Bundesliga title.

Thanks for reading and see you soon!