England beat Mexico despite being a man down and progressed to the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup
The 2026 World Cup round of 16 match between Mexico and England, which took place at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, ended in a 3–2 victory for England.
The kick-off was delayed by one hour due to adverse weather conditions, including heavy rain and lightning strikes.
Jude Bellingham opened the scoring in the 36th minute, heading home a cross from Bukayo Saka on the right flank. Just two minutes later, Bellingham scored his second after an assist from Harry Kane.
Before half-time, Mexico pulled one back. Julián Quiñones scored in the 42nd minute.
Early in the second half, England were reduced to ten men. In the 54th minute, Jarrell Quansa was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle on Jesús Gallardo.
Despite playing with ten men, Thomas Tuchel’s side extended their lead. In the 60th minute, Harry Kane converted a penalty awarded following a foul by goalkeeper Raúl Rangel on Anthony Gordon.
In the 69th minute, Mexico pulled one back again. Raúl Jiménez converted a penalty awarded for a foul by Harry Kane on Bryan Gutiérrez.
Until the final whistle, Javier Aguirre’s side tried to fight back, but were unable to change the score and saw their campaign at the home World Cup come to an end.
In the quarter-finals, England will face Norway, who beat Brazil 2–1 in the round of 16 thanks to a brace from Erling Haaland. The match will take place on 12 July at 00:00 Kyiv time.
In the group stage, England finished top of Group L, beating Croatia 4–2 and Panama 2–0, and drawing 0–0 with Ghana. In the round of 16, Thomas Tuchel’s side secured a hard-fought 2–1 victory over the DR Congo.
Mexico topped Group A, beating South Africa 2–0, South Korea 1–0 and the Czech Republic 3–0. In the round of 16, the Mexicans defeated Ecuador 2–0.
The 2026 World Cup runs from 11 June to 19 July in the USA, Mexico and Canada. This is the first time the tournament has featured 48 national teams.
