England reach quarter-finals with thrilling win with 10-man squad

Jude Bellingham’s brace at the Estadio Azteca handed Mexico a rare defeat as 10-man England reached the quarter-finals with a 3-2 win in a nerve-wracking World Cup classic.

Harry Kane also scored from the penalty spot. Overcoming Jerrell Quan’s red card, high seas pressure and a roaring home crowd, the Three Lions kept alive their dream of winning their first major tournament in 60 years.

England have relied on Bellingham and Kane throughout the tournament and it was the pair that carried them into the last eight against Erling Haaland’s Norway.

Bellingham scored two goals in the space of 98 seconds in the first half to hand Mexico only their third defeat in 90 games at Azteca.

Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez reduced Mexico’s deficit, but they failed to make it to the quarterfinals.

The victory helped to erase some of the memories of the Aztec nightmare in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup in England, where Diego Maradona scored a brace for Argentina, including the infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal.

The match was delayed by an hour due to thunderstorms and heavy rain in the Mexican capital for several hours before the scheduled 6:00 pm (0000 GMT) kick-off.

Despite the muddy conditions, more than 80,000 spectators packed the stadium and created a deafening roar.

England coach Thomas Tuchel was wary of Mexico’s fast-paced attack as his team adapted to the conditions at 2,240 metres (7,350 feet) above sea level.

When Mexico won a World Cup knockout match for the first time in 40 years with a 2-0 win over Ecuador last Tuesday, they were on top of their opponents from the start.

This time England were able to keep Javier Aguirre’s team in check, but a crucial intervention from Jordan Pickford was needed to prevent a diving header from Jimenez that was heading towards the bottom corner of the net.

Kane needed a heroic performance to avoid an embarrassing early exit against DR Congo, a team Tuchel made three changes from for the match.

With Reece James not fit to start for the third consecutive match, Kwansa was forced to play at right-back, leading Tuchel to come under criticism for his decision not to bring in a more specialist substitute in that position.

Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Sakho also started as wingers and they both made effective contributions.

A cross from Sakar found Bellingham, whose powerful header gave Mexico its first goal in five matches at the current World Cup.

The Real Madrid midfielder doubled England’s lead within two minutes before the hosts could get their act together.

Kane’s extended ball reached Bellingham perfectly and he scored his fourth goal of the tournament.

Yet, what should have been a comfortable lead was almost slipping away within the first half.

Julian Quinones scored his fourth goal of the tournament after England failed to clear a free-kick, sparking hopes of a comeback for Mexico.

Jimenez’s shot went wide of the post and another header was saved brilliantly by Pickford. Then Bellingham saved Cesar Montes’s sure-fire equaliser in the dying moments.

Nico O’Reilly almost restored England’s two-goal lead, but his deflected shot hit the post.

Kwanza was shown a straight red card after a VAR review for a foul on Jesus Gallardo in the 54th minute.

But just six minutes later, the 10-man team extended their lead when Mexico goalkeeper Raul Rangel fouled Gordon and Kane scored from the penalty spot with a powerful shot.

It was the England captain’s sixth goal of the tournament, which puts him just one goal behind Haaland, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe in the race for the Golden Boot.

The match took another major turn when Mexico were awarded a penalty for a foul inside their own box and Jimenez converted from the penalty spot to make the final 20 minutes extremely exciting.

But England held on to the situation with a strong hand, holding off a series of Mexican attacks in 11 minutes of extra time to reach their third consecutive World Cup quarter-final.