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It was arguably the best game of the 2026 World Cup so far.
Doubts were raised about England’s prospects given Mexico’s fantastic home record and the fact that the Estadio Azteca is over 2,000 metres above sea level, but Thomas Tuchel’s side dealt with the noise and the altitude and were able to overcome the co-hosts. It was far from a routine win, though, and we’ll look at the extent of the Three Lions’ achievement.
It has been a World Cup for the big names, and Erling Haaland continued to find the World Cup really rather easy as his two goals helped Norway eliminate Brazil on Sunday. He continues to rack up the goals at international level, which we’ll look at in more detail.
We don’t want to rub salt into the wounds for Brazil fans, but an even worse day for the Seleção is the topic of our Missing Players quiz today, while our Ask Opta question is about impact subs.
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🏔️ STAT - England and Jude Thrive at Altitude
Mexico vs England kicked off an hour late due to bad weather.
The real storm came after the game finally got under way, though, with the two playing out a five-goal classic in the World Cup round of 16.
Declan Rice somewhat set the tone, booked for England after just 56 seconds – the fourth-earliest card awarded in men’s World Cup history.
Javier Aguirre’s side made a fast start as expected, but England kept them at bay, before a double punch from Jude Bellingham gave the Three Lions a two-goal lead after 38 minutes.
It would have been easy for Mexican heads to have dropped. This was an unfamiliar scenario. Mexico had gone 15 consecutive first halves of men’s World Cup football without conceding a goal, and here they had conceded twice in as many minutes.