Jobe Bellingham: BVB boss Kovac the reason behind first England call-up

Jobe Bellingham said all the credit for his first call-up to the senior England squad laid with Borussia Dortmund boss Niko Kovac, following Saturday's win over Elversberg.

Bellingham was named in Thomas Tuchel's group for their upcoming Nations League fixtures with Croatia and Spain this month, after impressing for Dortmund so far this season. 

The 21-year-old played 86 minutes of BVB's 2-1 win against Elversberg at Signal Iduna Park, with Felix Nmecha proving to be the match-winner with two second-half strikes. 

Dortmund have now started a Bundesliga season with nine unbeaten games for only the fourth time, ensuring they remained level with Bayern Munich at the top of the table.

Only in 2013-14 have Dortmund had more points at this stage than their 21 in 2026-27, with Jurgen Klopp's side back then amassing 22 from nine matches.

Now, after helping Kovac's team mark themselves out as title contenders, Bellingham is hoping to play alongside brother and former Dortmund star, Jude, for the Three Lions. 

"I'm grateful to my coach, Niko Kovac," Bellingham said. "My development and the fact that I was selected for the national team are largely thanks to him and the coaching staff.

"I'm really happy, and I want to keep working hard and developing further. 

"Playing alongside my brother for England is a huge dream. I can't stop smiling about it. We dreamed about this when we played together in the garden.

"I don't want to jinx anything because it hasn't happened yet, but I'm really looking forward to it, and I know he is too."

Dortmund endured a frustrating first half, with Fabio Silva and Nmecha guilty of squandering some glorious opportunities to give them the lead.

But they eventually found the breakthrough in the 55th minute, when Nmecha picked out the bottom-left corner after collecting Silva's pass on the edge of the penalty area. 

Nmecha doubled his and Dortmund's tally 16 minutes later with a curling effort beyond Nicolas Kristof from 25 yards out, but Elversberg threatened a nervy finish when Noel Futkeu acrobatically volleyed home nine minutes from time, though Kovac's side held on for all three points. 

It was Nmecha's fourth Bundesliga brace, with three of those coming for Dortmund, all of which have been in front of the BVB supporters. 

Since Opta's detailed data collection began, Nmecha is only the third Dortmund player to score twice from outside the box in a Bundesliga match (after Youssoufa Moukoko in 2022 and Alexander Frei in 2007).

"I think I struck the ball well twice," Nmecha said with a laugh. "We knew Elversberg were a good footballing side, and they certainly didn't make things easy for us.

"In the end, you have to fight, that's what you have to do, and then you win.

"It's a long season, and the battle with Bayern isn't decisive for us just yet. We're taking it one game at a time. That's all we can do right now."