Jude Bellingham wins prestigious award that neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo managed to claim

Jude Bellingham became the first footballer to ever win the prestigious award just a day after his last-minute goal for Real Madrid in El Clasico.

Bellingham has taken to life as a Madrid man like a duck to water and even matched the goal-scoring record of Cristiano Ronaldo at the start of the season.

The England international's last-minute striker against Barcelona was his 17th in La Liga, as he continues to flourish in a more advanced attacking role.

Bellingham also scored a last-minute winner in the reverse fixture, matching a record set by Ronaldo in the process.

The former Dortmund man has now achieved something neither Ronaldo nor Lionel Messi have, as the 20-year-old became the first footballer to win the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award.

Some of the previous winners include Lewis Hamilton, Emma Raducanu, Rafa Nadal and Patrick Mahomes.

Despite there being 21 nominees from the world of football since the award was introduced in 2000 there hadn't been a winner until Bellingham took home the trophy.

Some recent footballing nominees are Pedri, Ansu Fati, the Morocco national team, and Kylian Mbappe, with Steven Gerrard also finishing as a runner-up in 2002.

Bellingham received the award from Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz, who won the award in 2023.

While presenting Jude with the trophy, Alcaraz spoke on the importance of the award.

"Congratulations to Jude, I won this award last year and it was truly special for me because it's voted for by the Laureus Academy and it gives an international recognition to all sports," The Spaniard stated.

"I am very happy Jude has won as he represents a lot of positive values for young people, he has inspired a lot of athletes including myself and sets an example for everybody around the world," Alcaraz added before handing over to Bellingham.

The Real Madrid star was gracious as always when accepting the award stating: "Thank you very much, everyone, it's a pleasure to be amongst you all."

Bellingham also put a message out on social media following the event.

"What an honour to spend the evening with so many of my sporting heroes at such a prestigious event and to collect the World Breakthrough of the Year award. Thank you," He posted via Instagram.