KUCHING: England’s dream of bringing football home remains alive after surviving one of the toughest tests of their World Cup campaign, edging hosts Mexico 3-2 despite playing more than half an hour with 10 men.
Jude Bellingham’s blistering first-half brace put the Three Lions in command, but Mexico refused to let their home World Cup end quietly, forcing England to dig deep under relentless late pressure to secure a quarter-final meeting with Erling Haaland’s history-making Norway.
Bellingham stunned the Mexico City Stadium with two goals in as many minutes, first diving in to meet Bukayo Saka’s cross before doubling England’s advantage moments later.
The hosts hit back through Julián Quiñones in the 42nd minute, lifting the noise inside the stadium and shifting the momentum before half-time.
England’s task became even tougher when Jarell Quansah was shown a straight red card early in the second half, handing Mexico renewed belief.
Harry Kane restored England’s two-goal cushion from the penalty spot in the 60th minute, but the captain’s foul eight minutes later gifted Mexico another lifeline. Raúl Jiménez made no mistake from the spot to cut the deficit back to one.
What followed was an all-out siege.
Mexico poured forward in search of an equaliser, but England stood firm. Dan Burn, Marc Guehi, Djed Spence and John Stones produced crucial defensive interventions, while Jordan Pickford commanded his area under constant pressure as the Three Lions weathered 11 tense minutes of stoppage time.
It was far from England’s most polished performance, but perhaps one of their most important.
Championship ambitions are built as much on resilience as brilliance, and England showed they possess both. Now, only Norway stand between the Three Lions and a place in the World Cup semi-finals.
