England secured their place in the 2026 World Cup quarter-finals with a nail-biting 3-2 victory over co-hosts Mexico, where they will play Norway after the Scandinavian nation pulled off an upset over Brazil.
After a delay caused by events outside the stadium, the match at Estadio Azteca kicked into life when Bellingham hit the back of the net early in the match. The 23-year-old England star opened the scoring by heading home Saka’s cross, then followed that up two minutes later by converting Kane’s pass to register his fourth goal of the tournament.
Mexico reduced the deficit prior to the interval when Quiones hammered home to revive hope for the home supporters, and Pickford had to be at his best to deny Jimenez from netting an equalizer.
Things took a turn for England early in the second period when they were reduced to ten men when defender Jarell Quansah was sent off following a VAR review. However, England’s lead was restored in the 60th minute when Kane slotted away a penalty awarded after Gordon was fouled inside the area. Mexico continued to press, but found themselves further behind after Jimenez put away a penalty for their opponents’ penalty being the latest incident to need VAR to make an intervention following a foul by Kane.
Though Mexico rallied late, their efforts were not enough, and they slipped to a loss, booking England’s place against Norway. Earlier in the day, the Scandinavian nation sent five-time champions Brazil crashing out of the World Cup after their 2-1 win in New Jersey.
After surviving an early penalty save from Ryan Nyland of Brazil, Norway grew into the game, and the Manchester City striker hit the net on 79 minutes by heading Andreas Schjelderup’s pass over Alisson Becker, before putting a further one away to stun the Brazilians.
Neymar pulled a goal back with a penalty late on, but his late effort could not bring the South Americans back into the game.
