Down to 10 men for more than half an hour in their round of 16 clash against co-hosts Mexico, England breached the fortress Estadio Azteca to enter the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup 2026 on Monday (IST). Jude Bellingham's brace and Harry Kane's penalty guided the Three Lions to a historic 3-2 win over El Tri at the Mexico City Stadium after they fended off some serious attack from the hosts in the late second half.
The match surpassed expectations with five goals scored, one red card shown, two penalties given and several yellow card bookings made. England were forced to defend all through the latter stage of the second half, but a boosted defence line-up did just that to quash Javier Aguirre's side's dream in the World Cup.
Coming into this game, Mexico had only lost twice at the Estadio Azteca in 89 international appearances, with Honduras being the latest one to do so in 2013. England were up against not just this mental challenge but many more. They needed to adjust to the high altitude, a short turnaround and a rousing Mexican crowd in a clash that was delayed by an hour due to adverse weather conditions. But they did all of that extremely well to romp home and become just the third team to beat Mexico at this venue.
Bellingham's magical brace gives England the cushion
Jude Bellingham scored a brace to give England not just a goal but an added cushion, which was ultimately cut short minutes later by Julian Quinones. Declan Rice stretched off in a counterattack from England as he found Bukayo Saka at the right flank. The Arsenal winger then teed off Bellingham, who headed home into the bottom left to give the Three Lions the initial lead in the 36th minute.
He doubled it when Harry Kane teed him off down the centre as the Real Madrid midfielder flicked another one into the back of the net two minutes later. Quinones then pulled one back four minutes later when he smashed his right foot into the top centre after Konsa failed to clear a free-kick in the box and flicked it back to Al-Qadsiah's winger.
Kane scores on penalty, concedes too in nervy moments for England
Things went 2-1 in favour of England in the first half, and it became 3-1 at the stroke of the hour mark when Harry Kane scored a penalty. Mexico goalkeeper Rangel charged towards Gordon in the box and was fouled for the challenge as the Three Lions got a penalty, which Kane converted in the 60th minute. However, the English captain conceded one later when he made a challenge on Gutierrez as Raul Jimenez scored from the spot. Mexico pressed hard and gave England some very nervy moments before the final whistle was blown to take the Three Lions through to the quarterfinals.
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