It was an occasion worthy of the final itself. After a delayed kick-off, two penalties, a sending off, 11 minutes of injury-time and facing a hostile home crowd at the Estadio Azteca, England dug deep to hold on and beat Mexico 3-2 in a World Cup classic.
The Three Lions became only the third team ever to win a competitive match at the iconic stadium in Mexico City with Jude Bellingham scoring a first-half brace and Harry Kane on target from the spot.
With England two up through Bellingham’s goals on 36 and 38 minutes, Mexico struck back just before the break after Julián Quiñones smashed home inside the area.
Jarell Quansah’s straight red card on 54 minutes gave further momentum to the co-host nation, but England restored their two-goal lead on the hour mark through Kane’s penalty, his sixth goal of the tournament.
Down to 10 men, England were up against it after Mexico cut the deficit to 3-2 with Raúl Jiménez’s penalty on 69 minutes. However, the final half-hour saw Thomas Tuchel’s side put on a superb defensive display to set up a quarterfinal tie with Norway on Saturday evening (11 pm CEST).
