Ten-man England beat Mexico 3-2 at Azteca as Bellingham brace seals World Cup quarter-final spot

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Jude Bellingham netted twice to hand Mexico a seldom-seen loss at Estadio Azteca on Sunday, as England edged a tense World Cup encounter 3-2 despite finishing with 10 men to book a place in the quarter-finals.

Harry Kane also converted from the spot as the Three Lions weathered Jarell Quansah's dismissal, thin air at altitude and a roaring home crowd to sustain their bid for a first major title in six decades.

England have leaned heavily on Bellingham and Kane across the tournament, and the pair have now propelled them into a last-eight meeting with Erling Haaland's Norway.

"When the going gets tough, they never give up, they never lose belief. It was one step more," said England boss Thomas Tuchel. "We need to take this in. This is Azteca, it's Mexico, a crazy game. We left everything out there, every single one of us. We need to take this in, now it's full steam ahead."

Bellingham found the net twice within 98 seconds in the opening half, leaving Mexico with only a third defeat in 90 outings at the Azteca. Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez pulled goals back for the hosts, but Mexico still missed out on a quarter-final berth.

The result also eased some of England's painful recollections of the 1986 World Cup quarter-final at the same venue, when Diego Maradona struck twice for Argentina, including the notorious "Hand of God" goal.

Kick-off was pushed back by an hour after a thunderstorm and hours of heavy rain across the Mexican capital ahead of the scheduled 6.00pm (0000 GMT) start. Even on a waterlogged pitch, more than 80,000 supporters packed the ground and generated ear-splitting noise.

Tuchel had warned against a quick Mexican opening as his players adapted to conditions 2,240 metres (7,350 feet) above sea level. The hosts had burst from the blocks when they claimed a first World Cup knockout victory in 40 years with a 2-0 win over Ecuador on Tuesday.

On this occasion England largely contained Javier Aguirre's team, though Jordan Pickford produced a vital save to stop Jimenez from opening the scoring with a diving header bound for the bottom corner.

Tuchel rotated three players from the lineup that needed a late Kane rescue to avoid an early exit against DR Congo. Quansah filled in at right-back with Reece James again unavailable to start for a third straight match, drawing scrutiny over Tuchel's lack of specialist options in that role.

Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka began on the flanks and both influenced the outcome. Saka's delivery found Bellingham to head home the first goal Mexico had allowed in five World Cup matches. The hosts never settled, and within two minutes the Real Madrid midfielder had put England two ahead. Kane's cross across the face of goal sat up perfectly for Bellingham to register his fourth strike of the tournament.

A seemingly secure advantage nearly vanished before the interval. Quinones rifled in his fourth goal of the competition to ignite a Mexican fightback after England failed to deal with a free-kick. Jimenez fired wide and had another header kept out by Pickford before Bellingham made a desperate block to prevent Cesar Montes from levelling.

Nico O'Reilly almost restored England's two-goal margin early in the second half when his deflected effort struck the post. Quansah was sent off on 54 minutes following a VAR review for a mistimed challenge on Jesus Gallardo.

Yet only six minutes later the reduced England side extended their lead when Gordon was brought down by Mexico goalkeeper Raul Rangel and Kane buried the penalty. The captain's sixth goal of the tournament leaves him one adrift of Haaland, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe in the Golden Boot standings.

Momentum shifted again when Kane was judged to have fouled inside his own area and Jimenez converted the resulting penalty, setting up a frantic closing 20 minutes. England held firm, at times defending desperately to repel Mexico's late pressure through 11 minutes of stoppage time and secure a third straight World Cup quarter-final appearance.