England are into the quarter-final of the FIFA World Cup after a tense, but spirited and determined win over co-hosts Mexico in a once in a lifetime match at the Azteca Stadium in the early hours of the morning. England, who came into the fixture off the back of a Harry Kane hurricane against DR Congo; with his late efforts sealing a 2-1 win, were expected to struggle against a Mexican team that were highly organised in defence, not conceding a goal in any game they had played up to kick-off in the Azteca, but who also had showed good attacking moments, mostly through the men who had put them past South Africa in the opening game of the tournament, Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez, and that’s not even mentioning the main topic of debate that plagued the build-up, how Thomas Tuchel’s side would handle the altitude of the Azteca Stadium being 7,000 feet above sea level.
Regardless of any pre match speculation, England took the lead ten minutes before the interval, with Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham heading home into an almost empty net after a lovely cross from the now fully fit Bukayo Saka, and their lead was doubled 120 seconds later, as Bellingham struck from close range once more to stun the Azteca, and Javier Aguirre’s Mexican side. Quinones showed his class however, lashing a volley past England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford before halftime, meaning that the co-hosts had a serious chance of a comeback. That comeback seemed more likely when former Liverpool, now Bayer Leverkusen defender Jarell Quansah was sent off within ten minutes of the restart, but it was England’s ever present Harry Kane who scored a penalty on the hour mark to put England through to the last eight for the third successive tournament in a row, after beating Sweden in 2018, and losing to France in 2022. Jimenez may have got a goal back with around 20 minutes to play, but Tuchel changed his tactics, resorting to a back five to absorb Mexican pressure, which paid off. There’s no doubt he is one of the greatest knockout tournament managers of his generation after this win. The Three Lions’ only issue arose post-match as Jordan Henderson was stretchered off after damaging his wrist in a rather unique and comical situation; he fell over the advertising hoarding. England’s next challenge is Norway, who stunned five time champions Brazil, thanks to a late Erling Haaland brace putting them past the Selecao 2-1. That quarter final fixture is at 10pm on Saturday in Miami, and the winner of that match will take on the winner of either Argentina/Egypt or Switzerland/Colombia, who both play tomorrow in the final two games of the round.
Tonight, it’s a clash of the European giants as the rivalry between Spain and Portugal enters a new era. Luis de la Fuente’s Spain sailed smoothly through to this round after a 3-0 win against Austria, while Portugal faced controversy for the circumstances of their win against 2018 runners-up Croatia; Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty and Goncalo Ramos’ winner were enough to get them through to face their long-time geographical rivals. Tonight’s other fixture is also embroiled in controversy as the final host nation to play in this round, the USA, face Belgium in the early hours. Folarin Balogun’s red card that he picked up in the USA’s last 32 tie has been suspended for up to a year, meaning he’s eligible to play tonight. President Trump is seemingly overjoyed about this revelation, posting on social media the following statement:
Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!
However, European footballing governing body UEFA said the reversal of Balogun’s suspension “crossed a red line” and also called the decision “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.”
Luke Watson will be keeping us up to date on World Cup 2026
