10-man England beat Mexico to proceed to World Cup quarter finals
Jude Bellingham had two goals, Harry Kane had a goal and an assist, and the Three Lions overcame Jarell Quansah’s VAR-awarded red card to set up a meeting with Norway.
It was supposed to be about altitude, but England’s World Cup run is onto the quarterfinals thanks to brave defending with 10 men in a 3-2 win over Mexico at Azteca on Sunday.
Jude Bellingham had two goals, Harry Kane had a goal and an assist, and the Three Lions overcame Jarell Quansah’s VAR-awarded red card to set up a meeting with Norway.
Mexico had yet to lose or concede a goal in dominating their group and came out strong only to go down 2-0 on a pair of Bellingham goals in three minutes.
Julian Quinones made it 2-1 before halftime and Mexico looked set to surge back into control as Quansah’s studs-up challenge went over the ball and into the ankle of Jesus Gallardo for a 54th minute red card.
Harry Kane then converted an Anthony Gordon-won penalty and Mexico’s only answer was a Raul Jimenez penalty — also awarded by VAR — as El Tri resorted to desperation crosses and England sub Dan Burn, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, and Co. managed to deal with all of them.
England answer questions about heart but are they one-dimensional?
There can be doubting the Three Lions’ resolve after they held up with 10 men over 36 minutes and another 11 of added time. Jordan Pickford was so active in the box, Dan Burn effective as a sub, and Jude Bellingham was as good as he’s ever been for any of his teams.
Yet it’s impossible to overlook another two goals conceded, a silly red card, and a first half that was largely dominated by Mexico. Yes, El Tri were tournament hosts and ranked 10th in the world by FIFA. And Croatia are no slouches at 13th.
But aren’t tournament favorites supposed to look like the superior team more often than not in these games? Kane has been wonderful this tournament and both Bukayo Saka and Bellingham were excellent on Sunday but beyond that there are huge questions as this team looks to slow down Erling Haaland, Martin Odegaard, and the rest of Norway’s vikings.
Mexico were better at 11v11 than 11v10
Javier Aguirre will watch this game back and wonder what he could’ve said to his men to get them to do something different once they went up a man. Mexico constantly swung the ball from back to back and used the same build-up patterns, firing in crosses to a straight line of attackers that allowed England to mark those attackers and clear the way for Pickford to punch the ball clear of danger. That’s if the crosses found their mark in the first place. Mexico had 63% possession and out-attempted England 7-3 in the first half.
Yet outside of Raul Jimenez’s eight shots and Julian Quinones’ three, there wasn’t a lot to like about El Tri. Jimenez’s 12 touches in the box were just under one-third of Mexico’s total output there. Pickford only had to make three saves and faces just 1.85 xGOT. The game was there for them.
Mexico vs England final score: 2-3
Jude Bellingham 36′, 38′; Julian Quinones 42′, Harry Kane pen 60′, Raul Jimenez pen 69′
Red card: Jarell Quansah 54′
