England Beat Mexico 3-2 to Enter Quarterfinals
Mexico City: Jude Bellingham scored twice 98 seconds apart, Harry Kane converted a penalty with England down to 10 men and the Three Lions handed Mexico their first World Cup defeat at the Estadio Azteca on Sunday night and progressed to the quarter-finals with a wild 3-2 win.
England will face Norway in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Saturday for a place in the semi-finals.
Bellingham stunned a crowd of more than 80,000 on a venue where Mexico are unbeaten in 10 World Cup matches, including three this year; He scored with a header in the 36th minute and again with a pass from Kane in the 38th minute.
Julian Quinones scored for El Tri in the 42nd minute, and the game turned in Mexico’s favor when England’s Jarell Quansah received a red card in the 54th minute for a dangerous foul on Jesus Gallardo.
However, England were awarded a penalty for a tackle on Mexico goalkeeper Raul Rangel, and Kane scored his sixth goal of the tournament and the 14th of his World Cup career, putting West Germany’s Gerd Muller in fifth place on the scoring list. Kane has six goals in this tournament; one behind Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland in the race for the Golden Boot.
Kane then committed a foul, making him the first player since at least 1966 to score and concede a penalty in a World Cup match. Raul Jimenez quickly converted the shot and put El Tri ahead 3-2.
Mexico attacked relentlessly throughout the final 21 minutes plus 11 minutes of stoppage time, but goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and England’s defenders remained steady.
Mexico has not reached the quarter-finals since hosting the tournament in 1986. Since then it has lost eight times in the round of 16, failed to advance past the group stage in 2022 and was disqualified from the 1990 tournament.
