England beat Mexico 3-2 at the Azteca Stadium, eliminated the hosts

World champions for the first and only time in 1966, when they hosted the World Cup, England will now face Norway in the quarter-finals. The Norwegian team also eliminated Brazil this Sunday, winning 2-1 in New Jersey. The duel between the English and Norwegians will be next Saturday (11), at 6 pm, Brasília time, in Miami, in the United States.

Mexico, in turn, is experiencing yet another frustration in the World Cup. The team has not reached the quarterfinals since 1986, when it also hosted the tournament. Absent in 1990, in Italy, the Mexican team fell in the round of 16 in eight of the last nine editions. In 2022, in Qatar, they did not even advance to the knockout stage.

The match, initially scheduled for 9pm Brasília time, started an hour late due to bad weather. Hours before the ball dropped, a strong storm, with lightning, hit Mexico City.

With the risk of new electrical discharges, FIFA adopted the safety protocol used in matches in the United States, postponing the start of the game and advising fans to look for protected areas. When the players were released to warm up, it was still raining in Azteca, but with less intensity.

The yellow card given to Declan Rice in the first few seconds summed up a good part of the first half: a lot of physical competition and little creativity. During much of the opening half, the best move was a header from Raúl Jiménez, in the 14th minute, saved by Jordan Pickford in the left corner.

The final stretch before the break, however, completely changed the pace of the game. In the 36th minute, in a counterattack started from the defense field, Bukayo Saka received the ball on the right, passed by Jesús Gallardo and crossed for Jude Bellingham to complete the goal.

A minute later, Elliot Anderson disarmed Gilberto Mora in the middle. The ball fell to Bellingham, who played Harry Kane on the left of the area. The attacker finished with a cross, and Bellingham himself appeared again to push the ball into the net and silence the Azteca.

Even shaken, Mexico reacted quickly. In the 42nd minute, after a free kick on the left, the ball deflected off Ezri Konsa and fell to Julian Quiñones, who shot hard and put the home team back in the match.

The equalizer almost came before the break. Raúl Jiménez had two chances in stoppage time. In the most dangerous one, in the 47th minute, he headed towards the right corner, but Pickford made a great save.

The second half started at an intense pace. After three minutes, Nico O'Reilly hit the left post with a first-time shot from the edge of the area.

Shortly afterwards, Jarell Quansah hit Gallardo's leg with the sole of his foot in a move that was initially not called a foul. The move provoked complaints from Mexicans and discussion among the reserves. Called to the video, referee Alireza Faghani reviewed the move and sent off the English defender.

Mexico, however, barely had time to take advantage of its numerical advantage. In the 12th minute, goalkeeper Raúl Rangel brought down Anthony Gordon inside the box. Penalty for England. Kane took the shot and scored his sixth goal in the World Cup.

In the 20th minute, Kane himself committed a penalty after hitting Brian Gutiérrez inside the area in a ball dispute. Once again, the referee had to review the play on the video before signaling the infraction. Jiménez charged and beat Pickford, reducing it to 3-2.

From then on, the match became an attack against defense. Pushed by the fans, Mexico pressed until the end, while England closed in to hold on to their advantage.

At the final whistle, it's better for the Three Lions, who are still alive in the World Cup. For Mexico, it was another painful elimination in front of their fans.

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