Chosen by Kim Kardashian and loved by fans, Bellingham fires England to 1-0 win over Serbia at Euros

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany (AP) — Jude Bellingham is the star of Kim Kardashian’s male underwear range, England icon David Beckham mimics his trademark goal celebration, and a Beatles classic has become his anthem as adoring fans serenade him with “Hey Jude” when he’s on the field.

Bellingham, it seems, can do no wrong.

No surprise then that he was the player to get England off to a winning start at the European Championship with a first-half goal to beat Serbia 1-0 in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday.

“Every game I feel like I can make an impact, I feel like I can decide games,” the Real Madrid star said. “I really enjoy playing football so when I go out there, I play with a fearlessness because I love doing it so much. It is a release for me.”

Wearing the No. 10 jersey once adorned by Wayne Rooney, the midfielder stooped to head in Bukayo Saka’s cross in the 13th minute. Bellingham raced away, arms outstretched in a pose Madrid fans have grown to love and Beckham has replicated on social media in tribute to a player who doesn’t turn 21 until later this month.

Bellingham has already done his talking on the field after a spectacular debut season at Madrid where he scored 23 goals, won the Spanish title and the Champions League.

He is also making a splash off of it.

Like Beckham, his appeal goes far beyond soccer. Presumably that was what Kardashian knew after Bellingham was chosen to front the menswear range of her SKIMS underwear. He’s also the star of an advertising campaign for sportswear giant Adidas, which features Beckham, who is just another of Bellingham’s many fans.

So much, so soon for someone so young could be seen as a cause for concern.

But Bellingham is not your average player.

“He writes his own script,” England manager Gareth Southgate said.

Having already played at the last Euros and the World Cup in 2022, Bellingham is the first European player to appear at three major international tournaments before the age of 21, according to statistician, Opta.

His goal was certainly the story of this game - sending England to the top of Group C after Denmark drew 1-1 with Slovenia. Christian Eriksen scored for the Danes - three years after suffering a cardiac arrest on the field at the last Euros.

England plays Denmark in Frankfurt on Thursday.

Southgate's team might have gone into that match on the back of a bigger margin of victory, with Harry Kane coming close to scoring in the second half when Serbia goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic pushed his far post header onto the underside of the bar.

England was a beaten finalist at the last Euros, losing on penalties to Italy in the final three years ago. It is one of the favorites to go one better this time around.

But off-field issues overshadowed the buildup to the game against Serbia, which had been deemed high risk due to concerns about violence between rival supporters. Some of those fears were realized when police rushed to separate brawling fans in Gelsenkirchen earlier in the day.

Social media footage showed men throwing chairs at each other outside a restaurant festooned with Serbian flags in the city.

Inside the stadium there were boos during the anthems.

England fans were soon celebrating once the game got underway after Bellingham’s decisive moment.

And he’s got no problem with the song supporters have attached to him.

“I listen to the Beatles a lot. My style of music is a bit old so that is right up my street,” he said.

Over in Hamburg, Dutch fans were also partying and turned the city into a sea of orange. The Netherlands secured a come-from-behind 2-1 win against Poland in Group D thanks to Wout Weghorst’s late goal.

James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

AP Euro 2024: https://apnews.com/hub/euro-2024

England's Harry Kane shakes hands with Serbia's Milos Veljkovic at the end of a Group C match between Serbia and England at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Sunday, June 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Serbia's Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Milos Veljkovic applaud fans during a Group C match between Serbia and England at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Sunday, June 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

England's manager Gareth Southgate looks up prior to a Group C match between Serbia and England at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Sunday, June 16, 2024. (Bernd Thissen/dpa via AP)

England's Jude Bellingham gets a hug from England's manager Gareth Southgate after being substituted during a Group C match between Serbia and England at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Sunday, June 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

England's Harry Kane runs for the ball during a Group C match between Serbia and England at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Sunday, June 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

England's Harry Kane, left, grimaces in pain after a challenge by Serbia's Nikola Milenkovic during a Group C match between Serbia and England at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Sunday, June 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

England's goalkeeper Jordan Pickford celebrates at the end of a Group C match between Serbia and England at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Sunday, June 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

England's Harry Kane, right, saves a shot on goal during a Group C match between Serbia and England at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Sunday, June 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

England's Jude Bellingham, left, celebrates with England's Trent Alexander-Arnold after scoring the opening goal during a Group C match between Serbia and England at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Sunday, June 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Fans celebrate England's first goal of the game, scored by Jude Bellingham, at the 4theFans Central Park in Brighton, England, Sunday, June 16, 2024 during a Group C match between Serbia and England at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)

England's Jude Bellingham (10) scores on a header during the first half in a Group C match between Serbia and England at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

England's Jude Bellingham, right, scores the opening goal during a Group C match between Serbia and England at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Sunday, June 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

England's Jude Bellingham, front, celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal during a Group C match between Serbia and England at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Sunday, June 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Serbia fans cheer during a Group C match between Serbia and England at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Sunday, June 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

England's Jude Bellingham celebrates after scoring the opening goal during a Group C match between Serbia and England at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Sunday, June 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has abruptly fired the director of the National Security Agency, according to U.S. officials and members of Congress, but the White House and the Pentagon have provided no reasons for the move.

Senior military leaders were informed Thursday of the firing of Air Force Gen. Tim Haugh, who also oversaw the Pentagon’s Cyber Command, the officials said. They received no advance notice about the decision to remove a four-star general with a 33-year career in intelligence and cyber operations, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel decisions.

The move has triggered sharp criticism from members of Congress. And it marks the latest dismissal of national security officials by Trump at a time when his Republican administration faces criticism over his failure to take any action against other key leaders' use of the Signal messaging app to discuss plans for a military strike. It's unclear who now is in charge of the NSA and the Cyber Command.

Also fired was Haugh's civilian deputy at the NSA, Wendy Noble.

The NSA notified congressional leadership and top lawmakers of the national security committees of the firing late Wednesday but did not give reasons, according to a person familiar with the situation who insisted on anonymity to discuss the matter.

The White House did not respond to messages seeking comment. The NSA referred questions about Haugh to the Defense Department, which had no comment Friday.

Far-right activist and commentator Laura Loomer appeared to take credit Friday in a post on X, saying she raised concerns to Trump about Haugh’s ties to Gen. Mark Milley and the Biden administration and questioned the NSA chief's loyalty to the president. Milley served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Trump’s first term but has since become an outspoken critic.

“Given the fact that the NSA is arguably the most powerful intel agency in the world, we cannot allow for a Biden nominee to hold that position,” Loomer wrote. “Thank you President Trump for being receptive to the vetting materials provided to you and thank you for firing these Biden holdovers.”

Loomer, who has claimed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were an “inside job,” had discussed staff loyalty with Trump in an Oval Office meeting Wednesday, according to several people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive personnel manner. A day later, Trump said he fired “some” White House National Security Council officials.

Sen. Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island, said Friday that he has “long warned about the dangers of firing military officers as a political loyalty test.”

"In addition to the other military leaders and national security officials Trump has fired, he is sending a chilling message throughout the ranks: don’t give your best military advice, or you may face consequences,” Reed said in a statement.

He added that Trump “has given a priceless gift to China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea by purging competence from our national security leadership.”

Another Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the U.S. was “facing unprecedented cyber threats” and asked how firing Haugh, who has served in the military for 30 years, makes American safer.

Trump hasn't commented on Haugh or Noble, but on Thursday he dismissed the National Security Council firings as normal.

“Always we’re letting go of people,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he made his way to Miami on Thursday afternoon. “People that we don’t like or people that we don’t think can do the job or people that may have loyalties to somebody else.”

The firings come as Trump's national security adviser, Mike Waltz, fights calls for his ouster after using the publicly available encrypted Signal app to discuss planning for a sensitive March 15 military operation targeting Houthi militants in Yemen.

Warner called it “astonishing” that Trump "would fire the nonpartisan, experienced leader of the National Security Agency while still failing to hold any member of his team accountable for leaking classified information on a commercial messaging app — even as he apparently takes staffing direction on national security from a discredited conspiracy theorist in the Oval Office.”

Haugh met last month with Elon Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency has roiled the federal government by slashing personnel and budgets at dozens of agencies. In a statement, the NSA said the meeting was intended to ensure both organizations are “aligned” with the new administration’s priorities.

Haugh had led both the NSA and Cyber Command since 2023. Both departments play leading roles in the nation’s cybersecurity. The NSA also supports the military and other national security agencies by collecting and analyzing a vast amount of data and information globally.

Cyber Command is known as America’s first line of defense in cyberspace and also plans offensive cyberoperations for potential use against adversaries.

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Matthew Lee, Aamer Madhani, Zeke Miller, David Klepper and Lou Kesten in Washington contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump, center, arrives on Air Force One at Miami International Airport, Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)