England reach FIFA World Cup 2026 quarterfinals after 10-man thriller against Mexico

Jude Bellingham scored twice inside two minutes as 10-man England knocked the co-hosts Mexico out of the FIFA World Cup 2026 after a 3-2 victory in a thriller at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on Sunday.

England, who ended the co-hosts' deepest run at the tournament in 40 years, will face Norway in the last eight in Miami on Saturday.

Thomas Tuchel's side made it hard for themselves but handed the spirited Mexicans their first-ever World Cup defeat at the iconic stadium.

Mexico had only lost two competitive games at the Azteca in 89 matches since 1966, but England deserved to make it three.

England were reduced to 10 men in the 54th minute of the match when Jarrell Quansah was sent off after a tackle on Jesus Gallardo.

Quansah became the first Three Lions’ player to be sent off at the World Cup since Wayne Rooney in 2006 against Portugal.

Inside five minutes of the red-card incident, England were awarded a penalty after Anthony Gordon was brought down by goalkeeper Raul Rangel.

Harry Kane scored on a penalty in the 60th minute of the match to make it 3-1.

It was all drama at the end, as just eight minutes later, Mexico was also awarded a spot kick after Kane kicked the underside of Brian Gutierrez's foot inside the box.

Raul Jimenez remained cool as a cucumber to convert the penalty in the 69th minute, making the score 3-2.

Jude Bellingham scored twice inside two minutes to give England the advantage, breaking the deadlock in the 36th minute.

The action started when England counter-attacked. Declan Rice drove forward and found Bukayo Saka down the right, who sent the ball into the box. It missed Kane, but Bellingham was there to bury it.

Bellingham took no time to double England’s lead in the 38th minute. Kane fed the Real Madrid forward in the box, and he fired home with his right foot.

Julian Quinones pulled one back for Mexico in the 42nd minute of the match to make it 2-1.

Mexico had a free-kick on the left-hand side, the ball flew into the box and fell kindly for Quinones, who lashed into the roof of the net.

For the unversed, the match was delayed by one hour due to adverse weather conditions around the Azteca Stadium on Sunday.

The game had been scheduled to kick off at 1800 local time (5:00 am PKT), but FIFA postponed the start after a shelter-in-place order was issued due to thunderstorms in the area earlier in the day.

World football’s governing body decided on Friday to keep the scheduled kickoff time despite the chances that the weather could force changes.