Jobe Bellingham has earned his first senior call-up to the England squad, setting the stage for a rare international milestone alongside his older brother Jude Bellingham. Should the Borussia Dortmund midfielder feature on the pitch with the Real Madrid star during the upcoming international window, they will become the first brothers to play together for the Three Lions since Gary and Phil Neville did so 19 years ago. England manager Thomas Tuchel announced the squad ahead of their upcoming fixtures, which see England host Croatia at Wembley on Thursday, 12 November, before travelling to Madrid to play Spain on 15 November.
The opportunity arrived after England Under-21 head coach Lee Carsley had been pushing for some time to see the Young Lions captain rewarded with senior recognition. A natural opening emerged in Tuchel's squad with Arsenal's Myles Lewis-Skelly suspended for the Croatia encounter and Bournemouth's Alex Scott sidelined by injury following his debut in last month's 7-0 victory against Croatia. Tuchel described the call-up as an "incredible achievement for the family and for the brothers," praising Jobe's calm personality, physical profile, and ball retention while including him as one of five options for central midfield.
The 19-year-old's pathway has closely followed that of Jude, who made his name at Birmingham City and Dortmund before emerging as a key figure at the World Cup and moving to Real Madrid. Jobe debuted for Birmingham's senior team at 16 years and 107 days—69 days older than Jude on his senior debut—prior to joining Sunderland, helping them earn Premier League promotion, and completing a switch to Dortmund worth up to £31m. Determined to forge an independent path, the midfielder wears 'Jobe' on his shirt and has made 14 appearances under Dortmund manager Niko Kovac this season, recently starring in an advanced role during a 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich.
A joint England appearance would place the siblings in exclusive company. Prior to the Nevilles, who shared the pitch 31 times following their initial outing together against China in 1996, the last siblings to feature in the same England team were 1966 World Cup winners Bobby and Jack Charlton. While brothers Nathaniel and Trevoh Chalobah have both collected senior England caps in recent years, they never played alongside each other, giving Jobe and Jude the immediate chance to end a near two-decade wait.
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