England’s Jude Bellingham celebrates with Trent Alexander-Arnold after scoring his side’s winner against Serbia at the Euro 2024 tournament in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday. (AP Photo)
After Jude Bellingham scored the winning goal against Serbia in a 1-0 victory at Euro 2024 in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday, he and Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold celebrated the goal with a unique pose, which caught the internet’s eye.
Thanks to Bellingham’s goal, England are off to a winning start at the European Championships.
With Bellingham’s celebration getting as much attention as his goal, we explain what the celebration meant.
What did Jude Bellingham do after scoring against Serbia?
After the Real Madrid star had given the English a 1-0 lead in the first half, Alexander-Arnold and other teammates rushed towards him. While the rest of the players walked away, Alexander-Arnold and Bellingham knelt down opposite each other.
They then rested their right elbows on their thighs before covering their faces with their right hands.
So what’s the meaning of Jude Bellingham’s pose?
The celebration comes from Werewolf, a card game that is very popular inside the England football team’s camp, notes The Athletic, which goes on to add that there is a group of players besides staff members who “describe themselves as the Wolf Crew that participate” in the game frequently. And of course, the report notes that Bellingham and Alexander-Arnold are two of the more active members of the Wolf Crew.
Bellingham was asked about the celebration after the game. He said: “When we play ‘Wolf’, one of the staff holds his face like that when he doesn’t know what’s going on. That was a little joint celebration for the Wolf Crew,” Bellingham told the BBC after England’s win.
At a press conference organised by UEFA he said: “It was more a celebration for the backroom staff, who put in so much work every day. They don’t get to have the moments we have on the pitch but we value them so much, and it’s important we keep that atmosphere.”
What’s Werewolf?
Werewolf is a card game where some of the players are wolves, while other players are villagers, seers, doctors. Except the moderator of the game, no one knows the identity of every player. The objective of the game is to catch the wolves by voting the one you suspect.
The Athletic noted that the game has now been played by England squads at recent tournaments, including the Qatar World Cup in 2022.
