MEXICO CITY—Long before England kicked off at the Azteca Stadium on Sunday night, the players knew they were entering one of the most hostile arenas in sports.
This is a concrete graveyard where visiting teams are met with a wall of noise, a cloud of smog, and air so thin it never quite fills their lungs. And now, the Three Lions were facing 11 men in green jerseys who hadn’t merely risen to their role as World Cup hosts. Mexico had won all four of its games without conceding a single goal.
It is a challenge unlike any other in world soccer, and the list of those who have survived this test is barely a list at all. Mexico has lost just twice here in competitive matches since the stadium was constructed in 1966.
But on a wild Sunday night, when steady rain lashed the stadium and an electrical storm delayed kickoff by one hour, England didn’t merely take on the adversity. They did so while displaying the classic quality of England soccer teams at the World Cup. They made things even more difficult than they needed to be.
Despite taking a two-goal lead on two separate occasions, the Three Lions allowed Mexico back into the game through a needless red card and an instant-replay penalty, before finally prevailing 3-2 over 108 minutes of agony.
It was chaotic, it was courageous, and it immediately entered the ranks of England’s greatest victories in the country’s tortured 76-year history of competing at the World Cup. For a team whose signature was bowing out of major tournaments in a storm of self-sabotage and self-loathing, surviving this trip south of the border erased years of heartbreak—but only for a moment.
Soccer Football – FIFA World Cup 2026 – Round of 16 – Mexico v England – Mexico City, Mexico – July 5, 2026 England fans celebrate after England defeated Mexico in their FIFA World Cup Round of 16 match. REUTERS/Victor Medina
As the small pocket of outnumbered England fans belted pop hits of the 1990s into the hazy night, it was easy to forget that this was just the round of 16. The Three Lions now advance to a quarterfinal in Miami against a Norway side that unceremoniously dispatched Brazil earlier in the day.
“We needed everything,” England head coach Thomas Tuchel said. “This is Azteca, it’s Mexico, a crazy game. We left everything out there, every single one of us.”
But before the evening turned into a full-blown World Cup epic, it looked like a one-man show.
England seemed to have found the perfect antidote to the Azteca’s curse—and its name was Jude Bellingham, the Real Madrid playmaker with an uncanny ability to rise to the occasion the moment he pulls on an England jersey. Though he is only 23, he is already working on an extensive personal collection of memorable strikes at crucial moments: a winner against Serbia at Euro 2024, a late bicycle kick against Slovakia that same year, and the decisive goal against Croatia earlier this summer.
None, however, came in a more dramatic setting than Sunday night in the Mexican capital. Bellingham scored with a diving header from a Bukayo Saka cross in the 36th minute. Then, two minutes later, he added a second as he fought through a crowd to turn in a low ball from Harry Kane.
Soccer Football – FIFA World Cup 2026 – Round of 16 – Mexico v England – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico – July 5, 2026 England’s Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers celebrate after the match REUTERS/Paul Childs TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Twice, in the space of barely 120 seconds, Bellingham had silenced some 80,000 home fans.
But straightforward wins aren’t what England does at World Cups—and simply rolling over isn’t what Mexico does at home. Barely four minutes after Bellingham’s second goal, the lead was cut in half when England’s defense failed to deal with a free-kick and Mexico forward Julián Quiñones rifled into the roof of the net.
The Three Lions shot themselves in the foot when Jarell Quansah went in with a high foot on Mexico’s Jesus Gallardo. Alireza Faghani, the Australian referee, missed the infraction in real-time, but produced a red card after consulting with the video replay.
Against the odds, England restored its two-goal advantage with a penalty from Kane, though it only lasted nine minutes. This time, Kane gave away a penalty, once again issued after a replay review. Raul Jimenez converted, meaning England was left a man down and with 33 minutes to hang on.
And breaking with decades of English tradition, they saw it home.
Soccer Football – FIFA World Cup 2026 – Round of 16 – Mexico v England – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico – July 5, 2026 Mexico fans in the stands as they look dejected after the match REUTERS/Raquel Cunha
“In the moments we thought we could catch the momentum, we had setbacks,” Tuchel said. “That is proper mentality.”
Write to Jonathan Clegg at Jonathan.Clegg@wsj.com and Joshua Robinson at Joshua.Robinson@wsj.com
