Bellingham doubled Thomas Tuchel’s side’s advantage in the 38th minute after profiting from an assist from Harry Kane.
By Kehinde Okeowo
England booked their place in the quarter-finals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup with arguably their best display of the tournament on Monday, beating co-hosts Mexico 3-2.
Prior to the encounter, the North Americans had lost only two of 89 competitive games at the Azteca Stadium, but England produced a composed performance and deservedly opened the scoring in the 36th minute through Jude Bellingham.
The Real Madrid midfielder then doubled Thomas Tuchel’s side’s advantage two minutes later with his brace, after profiting from an assist from Harry Kane.
England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was in superb form, twice saving brilliantly from Raul Jimenez, but he was powerless to stop Julian Quinones pulling a goal back for Mexico with a powerful finish three minutes before the break.
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The Three Lions then survived Jarell Quansah’s red card early in the second half after he was sent off for a high challenge on Jesus Gallardo.
Despite being a man down, England restored their two-goal lead when Kane scored from the spot after Anthony Gordon was brought down by keeper Raul Rangel.
But just when England thought they had restored order, Kane caught Brian Gutierrez’s foot in the area, and Jimenez scored the resulting spot-kick.
Tuchel then brought on Dan Burn and Djed Spence, reverting to a five-man defence to see out 11 minutes of stoppage time for a superb win.
Following the hard-fought and dramatic victory over Mexico, England set up a last-8 clash against Norway, who earlier eliminated Brazil.
