England produced their finest performance of the World Cup so far with a stirring 3-2 victory over Mexico at the Azteca Stadium, booking a quarter-final showdown with Norway.
In a night filled with drama, the Round of 16 clash was delayed by an hour due to severe storms before Thomas Tuchel’s side overcame a hostile atmosphere and a second-half red card to claim one of their most impressive victories in recent years.
Mexico had lost only two of their previous 89 competitive matches at the Azteca, but England silenced the home crowd with a composed first-half display inspired by the outstanding Jude Bellingham.
The midfielder struck twice in the space of just 98 seconds before the interval to put England firmly in control. However, Mexico responded through Julián Quiñones, whose powerful finish beat Jordan Pickford three minutes before half-time after the England goalkeeper had already made two superb saves to deny Raúl Jiménez.
England’s task became even tougher early in the second half when Jarell Quansah was shown a straight red card for a high challenge on Jesús Gallardo, handing the hosts fresh belief as the stadium roared them forward.
Despite being reduced to 10 men, England restored their two-goal cushion when Harry Kane calmly converted a penalty after Anthony Gordon was brought down by goalkeeper Raúl Rangel.
The drama was far from over, however. Kane then conceded a penalty after catching Brian Gutiérrez in the area, allowing Jiménez to reduce the deficit from the spot and set up a tense finale.
With Mexico piling on the pressure, Tuchel responded by introducing Dan Burn and Djed Spence and switching to a five-man defence. England weathered 11 minutes of stoppage time with resilience and discipline to secure a memorable victory.
The result sends the Three Lions into the World Cup quarter-finals, where they will face Norway for a place in the last four.
