England snatched a dramatic victory over Mexico at the Azteca Stadium to book a quarter-final clash with Norway, Yankee Scores reports.
It was a night of pure sporting theatre, the match delayed by an hour due to heavy storms, but Thomas Tuchel’s side even survived Jarell Quansah’s early second-half red card to record one of their best wins in recent years.
Mexico had lost just two of 89 competitive games at their Azteca fortress but England’s cool approach early on allowed them to take command when the outstanding Jude Bellingham scored twice in the space of 98 seconds before half-time.
England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was in excellent form, pulling off two wonderful saves from Raul Jimenez, but he could do nothing to prevent Julian Quinones pulling one back for Mexico with a thunderous finish three minutes before the break.
The Quansah Red
There was a constant cacophony of sound pushing Mexico along and it grew when Quansah was sent off for a high tackle on Jesus Gallardo but England restored their two-goal advantage when Harry Kane scored from the spot after Anthony Gordon was brought down by keeper Raul Rangel.
Just when England thought they had sorted things out, Kane was the guilty party, kicking Brian Gutierrez’s foot in the area and Jimenez scored the penalty.
Tuchel’s Great Wall
In frantic atmosphere, with England under pressure, Tuchel brought on Dan Burn and Djed Spence, reverting to a five-man defence to see out 11 minutes of stoppage time for a superb win.
England will face Haaland’s Norway on Saturday at the Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida.
