Jude Bellingham says he is harnessing the pain of England’s near misses as the talented teenager homes in on European Championship glory next summer. The national team are in the midst of their most successful period since Sir Alf Ramsey led Bobby Moore’s heroes to World Cup glory in 1966. The surprising run to the 2018 semi-finals in Russia was followed by manager Gareth Southgate leading England to a first European Championship final two years ago. Bellingham’s first tournament ended in an agonising shoot-out defeat to Italy at Wembley and his maiden World Cup ended in a galling quarter-final exit to France in December. But now attention turns to their quest for Euros glory in Germany next summer – a tournament England will take a giant step towards by winning June’s qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia. Bellingham, who is closing in on a move to Real Madrid after Borussia Dortmund accepted their offer, will play no part in those matches due to a knee injury, yet he still reported to St George’s Park as he continues rehabilitation. “We’ve got to attack the qualifiers with the same mentality as we attack major tournaments,” Bellingham recently told the PA news agency. “The last three (tournaments), I’d say, we’ve been pretty successful. The last one was a bit disappointing, but we probably played a harder opponent than the previous ones. “The way we went out was disappointing, but you take confidence in the fact that you can go toe-to-toe with one of the better teams in Europe. “It stands you in good stead when you know there’s not many better teams on paper – you’d like to think – that are better than us. “So, you take that confidence and you take the experience that we’ve gained from the last few. “The goal is always to try and win it. That should be the goal for all of us going into it and that’s what we’ll try and do.” Bellingham does not lack confidence and nor should he given England’s performances in Qatar. A narrow defeat to eventual finalists and Euro 2024 favourites France did for Southgate’s side in the desert, where the midfielder says their progress was no mirage. “I felt so confident going into that France game that we’d get a result,” said Bellingham, speaking in his role as ambassador for McDonald’s Fun Football programme – which provides free, inclusive football coaching for children aged five to 11 across more than 1,500 locations in the UK. “I think probably we fell short in the big moments for their goals and obviously the penalties and moments like that. “The majority of the game we didn’t have clear chances, but when we did, we could have been a bit more decisive maybe. But, like I said, it’s an experience to take into the next ones. “I just really enjoyed the experience as a whole – relishing being away, playing in such a good team, having that pressure on me and on the team. It’s something that I really enjoyed.” Bellingham underlined his place as one of the greatest talents in the world in Qatar, flourishing in England’s midfield after a restricted but valuable role at Euro 2020. Aged 17 he became the youngest English player to feature in a major tournament, making three substitute appearances in a crash course summer of learning. “It was a bit of weird one for me because I didn’t play (much),” Bellingham said. “It was my first major tournament and I didn’t play too much. “But I was still like a sponge while I was there, trying to learn from everything that was going on around me, having it in England as well. “You could see the pressure up close almost and you went to the games and the atmosphere was incredible. We fell short at the final hurdle, so you take a lot of experience from that. “But there’s also a level of…not regret but motivation that you can take from the tournament. “I think, for me, the pain that I felt after that final and after the World Cup will definitely drive me in the tournaments to come.” You certainly would not back against ambitious Bellingham and his talented England team-mates as they look to finally land silverware in Germany. “I’d just say stick with us, really,” the 24-cap teenager said when asked what his message to supporters would be. “England fans can feel it themselves, They’re ambitious, but they’re not stupid. There’s a reason for the kind of expectation and the hype around the team at the minute. “The truth is that we are delivering. We’d like to deliver a trophy and a tournament win, of course, but I think there’s steps to doing that. “A lot of the great international teams in the past didn’t win straight away. They had to build for years before they managed to get over the line. “I think that there’s something similar happening with this England team now. I wouldn’t say patience is the word but just stick with us because we’ll deliver.” :: Jude Bellingham was speaking at a McDonald’s Fun Football session to announce his role as an ambassador for the UK’s largest grassroots participation programme for 5-11 year olds. Find your nearest free session at www.mcdonalds.co.uk/football. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Nottingham Open to commence as normal despite ‘horrific’ incident in city centre Joelinton: I received racist insults after Arsenal game Sheikh Jassim waiting to hear if final offer to buy Man Utd has been successful

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England’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Ukraine in September will be played in the Polish city of Wroclaw. Gareth Southgate’s men have enjoyed a 100 per cent start to European Championship qualification, with four wins from their four Group C matches. England’s next qualifier is on September 9 away to Ukraine, who have been forced to host matches away from their homeland since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. The Ukrainian Association of Football has confirmed that the match will be held in Poland at the 45,000-capacity Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw. They held last year’s Nations League games in Poland – two in Lodz, one in Krakow – and played June’s match at home to Malta in Trnava, Slovakia. The Austrian cities of Vienna and Klagenfurt had been reportedly considered as host cities for the match against England.

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Real Madrid are intent on holding their nerve in securing Kylian Mbappe for free next summer, despite Paris Saint-Germain announcing their preference to sell him for a fee this summer. The French star's decision to tell the Qatari-owned club he would not be extending his contract next summer continues to shape this summer's window, and has now led to a "shocked and disappointed" Nasser Al Khelaifi admitting "he can't leave for free". It is widely accepted in football that Mbappe will eventually go to Madrid but there is currently a stand-off between the two clubs from long-held tensions around the player and other issues. PSG are adamant Madrid must pay what they want. But Bernabeu president Florentino Perez does not want to pay PSG a penny for Mbappe. The Spanish club recently announced that their spending was finished for the summer with the surprising deal for Joselu, who is seen as a temporary replacement for Karim Benzema before going all in on Mbappe next summer. Madrid are determined to stick to that and hold their nerve and do not currently plan to spend any more, with their budget for the summer settled. The only element that may change that is if Mbappe himself encourages a move. Little competition for Mbappe is envisaged, in part because of his own desire to emulate Cristiano Ronaldo and go to the Bernabeu, and in part because of a rare status that prices all but about four or five clubs out of being able to sign him. Sources with knowledge of the situation were on Friday insistent that there was no bid from Liverpool, as any such move is simply beyond the club's transfer plans. In any case, it is understood that Arsenal would actually be Mbappe's first preference if he were to ever go to the Premier League, both because he likes the evolution of Mikel Arteta's team and would also enjoy the challenge of delivering the title to the club again. He is nevertheless seen as way beyond Arsenal's budget, too, and it should be stressed there has been no contact. Much will depend on whether there is a serious move, either by another club or Mbappe himself, as to whether Madrid go on to purchase him this summer. The player himself is nevertheless relaxed about the situation. It is not seen as realistic that PSG park him on the bench for the season if they can't secure a fee this summer. Read More The ‘problem’ Kylian Mbappe faces after disrupting the entire transfer market What next for Kylian Mbappe? Real Madrid, Man Utd and other options for PSG forward Lionel Messi to Inter Miami: Apple deal, MLS contract, salary, debut and everything we know

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