England saw off an immense challenge from Mexico, beating one of the tournament co-hosts in their home stadium after seeing one player sent off in a game that will go down as one of the best of the 2026 World Cup.
It was a game that had pretty much everything one could ask for: An electric atmosphere in Estadio Azteca, one of the great cathedrals of world soccer; two goals in two minutes from England; a goal from Mexico minutes later that threatened to shake Azteca’s foundations; a red card to England’s Jarrell Quansah that forced his side to defend a man down for 35 minutes; a penalty to England scored by their captain that rebuilt a two-goal lead; that same captain then committing a foul that allowed Mexico to pull close again; and then close to 30 minutes of Mexico pressuring England in search of an equalizer.
The 3-2 win for the English ensures they’ll play Norway outside Miami on Saturday in the quarterfinals after the Norwegians defeated five-time champions Brazil earlier in the day.
Mexico carried the run of play through much of the opening half of the game, including some brilliant saves from English keeper Jordan Pickford, but it was England who would eventually draw first blood and start one of the most incredible stretches of this tournament.
Through a cutting run down the right from Declan Rice, England had the ball in a dangerous position. Rice ended his run by laying off to Bukayo Saka, who charged toward the penalty area and lofted a cross into the box.
That ball found the head of Jude Bellingham, whose diving header bulged the net and opened the scoring.
And then lightning struck in Mexico City on a night full of thunderstorms.
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Off the ensuing kick, the Mexicans sloppily turned the ball over after Anthony Gordon made a strong challenge to knock the ball loose. England charged down the pitch as the ball popped loose to Bellingham. The Real Madrid star played a give-and-go with captain Harry Kane and received the ball back in the center of the box, sliding it past the Mexican keeper and into the back of the net for a shock 2-0 lead that came in all of two minutes.
Mexico had to have the next goal and, in as entertaining of a period that this World Cup has seen, they got it. Just four minutes after Bellingham’s second, the Mexicans earned a free kick in a dangerous spot in the England end.
The ball was sent in and headed down. It pinged off a couple of players and fell to Julián Quiñones, whose right-footed shot nearly ripped through the back of the net, such was the power with which it was hit.
Mexico nearly had an equalizer on multiple occasions before the halftime whistle blew, allowing both teams to catch their breath after a breakneck 15 minutes.
The second half started off on the same intense foot as England defender Nico O’Reilly hit the post with a blast from outside the box.
Not long after that, a tackle from English defender Jarrell Quansah on Mexico’s Jesús Gallardo – he won the ball but went in with his studs up and took out the Mexican defender – started the game’s biggest controversy. No foul was called, but the Mexican team was incensed and a clash between the two teams on the sideline ensued.
The tackle was reviewed and Quansah was given a straight red card, and England were down to 10 men for the remaining 35 minutes of the match. England manager Thomas Tuchel took Saka off and put on John Stones to shore up his side’s defensive posture.
It seemed like England would sit back and defend their goal for the remaining period of the match, and then it all changed. A long ball from Pickford made its way to Gordon, who charged into the box. Mexican keeper Raúl Rangel charged out and collided with Gordon and was immediately whistled for a penalty. Kane stepped up to the spot and blasted it to the bottom left corner past Rangel to make it 3-1.
A game that had everything served up additional surprises a few minutes later. Kane went from penalty scorer to committing a foul that led to a Mexico penalty, kicking the leg of Brian Gutiérrez while trying to clear the ball. The video assistant referee (VAR) told referee Alireza Faghani to take another look at it and the official quickly ruled it was a penalty.
Raúl Jiménez took the spot kick brilliantly and made it 3-2 in the 69th minute, bringing Mexico back to within a goal with 20 minutes to play as more than 80,000 fans in attendance shook the Azteca.
From there, it was a Mexican attacking onslaught as England tried to harden its defensive shell and see out the match. El Tri largely placed Pickford and the English end under siege but could not find the equalizer.
The final whistle blew to a stunned Azteca falling silent as “Three Lions” played over the speakers with the refrain echoing in heartbroken Mexican ears – “It’s coming home, it’s coming home, it’s coming home, football’s coming home.”
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