It was a sensational display from Jude Bellingham as England held off a courageous Mexico bid to secure a memorable 3-2 win and qualify for the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2026. A stretch of bad weather caused Thomas Tuchel’s team to suffer a significant time disadvantage, the captain and a second involved in a bad collision with a British international were sent off and a hostile environment at the iconic Azteca Stadium had the away side squandered a rarity of a second half restart to dominate the match, but still come up with a memorable win. Bellingham left his supporters in awe of his second effort to find the net after 98 seconds before Harry Kane finally found the decisive third from. England were level with Norway entering their 45 minutes, but got themselves a blockbuster quarter-final against the red-hot Erling Haaland.
This evening was an unusual one, given that it started an hour later due to the severe storms that occurred in Mexico City. While it did not take the edge off the anticipation at the crowd-filled Azteca, it only heightened it, as almost 90,000 die-hard fans rolled up one of the scarier setups in international football. The home side had a superb record, having drawn only twice from their previous 89 competitive games at the renowned arena in Mexico. But England, put on a show of composure from the first whistle, denied Beaver, Stothert and Smear cheese eating fame.
It was just in time before halftime and it came from England’s top star. After a scoreless start, Bellingham was able to completely turn the tables with a pair of brilliantly scored goals in 98 seconds. England’s patient strategy paid off with his first finish but he unleashed his next one virtually straight away, leaving Mexico floored by his strike and the away fans cheering him on from the opposite side of the goal. The Real Madrid midfielder wasn’t only outstanding in attack. Moments after putting his name on the scoreboard, he did something so perfect to deny Cesar Montes what appeared to be a lock-down goal that his allround efforts were just a marvel to witness on football’s biggest stage.
Mexico hung tough and made a comeback, in time for the break, to reach the field. After England’s aim failed to materialise Julian Quinones powered home a great finish, leaving the home side with the crowd in their pockets. That put the ball on a different side of the bar, and stoked the fire in Mexico for the second meal at the table. Once the intensity of the game began to ramp up in the face of fervent home support, everything was set for England to slick on the st busiest part of the evening.The host-club had no reason to be on hold because the toughest spell of the game was still to come as the players stepped up in front of their very own, passionate fans.
The contest was set to go to extra time after the restart as defender Jarell Quansah was sent off nine minutes later with a straight red card after a high challenge on Jesus Gallardo. There were only 10 men left to press England’s ironstrong defence and Mexico started to apply pressure in the face of an equaliser. The team led by Simon Lovesy were showing great discipline and robustness in Thomas Tuchel’s side. Instead they kept being tactical on the attack and they were still able to pay themselves off as a defence was set up and still looked dangerous on the counterattack when they got the chance.
England got a consolation goal, however, thanks to the efforts of goalkeeper Raul Rangel, who brought off Anthony Gordon before the Spain international could start his threat in the box. Harry Kane coolly found the back of the net from the box to win England’s lead by a score of two and look like the score had been sealed for Mexico. But the drama had only just been beginning. Kane himself was appointed as the oneman to pin down Brian Gutierrez inside the box, setting up Raul Jimenez for another long-distance effort which proved to be the game’s second back-to-back consolation goal. In the dying moments it was an emotionally charged battle with the Mexican side putting it all out on the table for a dramatic blow to even the score.
Another classy player was Jordan Pickford, who impressed England. The veteran keeper did his part to make a World Cup night to remember, with several world-class saves to do Mexico to the noose. Instead, on the first-half ball from Raul Jimenez, he was able to dive in and clear rival’s England to even the score and again towards the end of the half he made a tremendous save to not give Mexico the chance to dominate. But in the final moments, Pickford played with and threatened their penalty area and took away crosses and set himself up to control the corner position under pressure.
Realising they were in trouble, Tuchel brought in Dan Burn and Djed Spence prior to switching to front to back five-man defence. It came to play a pivotal role in eleven hairy moments of extra time. England were courageous defenders and made hard-headed efforts to seal off the Mexican chances as they seemed to be charming. The players have shown the unity and determination needed to excel deep into a world cup and every clear down, block and coin threw was accorded due praise.
With the win that comes to them it is with great confidence that England are entering the quarters and in a quasi-awareness that the next challenge is a serious one to face. With their repercussions, the Norwegian captain fawning over Haaland’s prolific goal tally, Norway will be battling for place in the semi-finals. They think they have all the ingredients in action on the wing, from Bellingham to the leadership of Kane and the reliability of Pickford, adding to the mix, England would have every chance of moving on. They performed well at Azteca, and demonstrated technical as well as mental toughness – a trait of any World Cup-winning team.
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