Ex-refs chief drops Jude Bellingham 'cheating' verdict after analysing England vs Spain footage

Jude Bellingham was correctly awarded a penalty during England's thrilling 3-2 defeat to Spain at Wembley Stadium.

That is according to former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee, Keith Hackett, who exclusively told Football Insider that VAR were right to suggest a second review of the incident.

Despite Lamine Yamal netting the opener after just two minutes, Anthony Gordon and Harry Kane struck back to give the Three Lions the lead.

Kane then had the chance to double his team's lead, but thanks to the pitch giving way, his penalty in the 54th minute rebounded off the crossbar.

Many watching on felt that the miss was justice served after Bellingham made the most of contact from Barcelona's Rodri.

The World Cup champions certainly made the most of the penalty miss, going on to claim all three points in the Nations League after goals from Alex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal.

Jude Bellingham claims rebuffed vs Spain

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Hackett agreed that the Real Madrid man had gone down easily, but also believed that the referee should have given it straight away.

"When a player gets anywhere near the penalty area in possession of the ball and they get some form of contact from the opposition, they're going to go to ground easily," he said.

"And this is an experienced Italian referee that comes across this type of behaviour on a regular basis.

"So I think that him having the ability to have a second look and probably a third and fourth look by replays on the screen ensured that the outcome was a penalty kick. And I thought that instantly.

"I was surprised the referee didn't give it. There's no doubt that when you see this incident Bellingham goes down pretty easily, but the outcome is the correct one.

"I don't think the referee has got any other option. I'm happy with the process and the outcome in terms of the penalty kick awarded."

Bellingham shows true leadership after Harry Kane miss

Even Kane was dumbfounded when his penalty struck the crossbar, looking straight at the turf which had given way underneath his standing foot.

However, with the Bayern Munich star still on his knees, Bellingham came straight over to pick his captain up, despite the 10-year age gap.

It has become increasingly clear that the Real Madrid man will be one of the biggest stars for England over the next decade, and maybe even longer.

And it's moments like this that really show how big a role he can play under Thomas Tuchel, or any other manager for that matter.