England pass Azteca test

Karan Ahgun

โ€” 4 min read
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England pass Azteca test

What a performance! England are through to the quarter-finals of the World Cup after beating Mexico 3-2 at the Azteca Stadium. There were many concerns in the build up to the game, from the altitude to Mexico's home advantage but England didn't let those concerns affect them in the way they played the match. It has been described as one of the all-time great England performances and it's not hard to see why!

Much of the build-up to the match focused on the elements which were in Mexico's favour. Mexico were playing in their home stadium, where they had only lost twice in 89 previous games. There was also the factor of playing at a higher altitude and having to acclimatise to that. To add a further spanner to the works, the match was delayed by a further hour due to adverse weather conditions. But with all that being said, England knew that if they could weather the on-pitch storm from Mexico in the first 20 or so minutes, they would have a better chance of getting a result. And that's exactly what they did. Tuchel's plan was to play at their own pace, slowing the game down and not allowing Mexico many fast breaks. The Mexicans had one standout chance through Raul Jimenez but Jordan Pickford produced a smart save to keep the former Fulham striker from scoring.

After the hydration break, England started to play a bit more and their first goal came after a brilliant driving run from Declan Rice, who passed it to Bukayo Saka, who then played a sumptuous cross for Jude Bellingham to score with a stooping header. It was England's first real meaningful attack but it showed the threat they carried on the transition. Just 98 seconds later, Bellingham doubled England's lead after some brilliant pressing from Anthony Gordon straight from Mexico's kick-off. The ball went to Harry Kane in the box and whilst everyone was expecting him to shoot, he played a low cross to Bellingham who tapped in his 4th goal of the tournament. At that point everything seemed smooth-sailing for England but the first twist came as Julian Quinones rifled in a volley from close range after a poorly defended set-piece. For the final minutes of the first half, Mexico were pushing to get an equaliser and came close as Montes had a chance from a corner but was prevented from scoring by a last-ditch clearance by Bellingham.

England started the second-half with more attacking intent. A couple of good crosses were put into the Mexican box by both Gordon and Saka but no one was able to get on the end of them. England also hit the post early in the second half after Nico O'Reilly's volley was deflected goalwards by Bellingham. But then came the major turning point in the game as Jarrell Quansah was sent off for a reckless challenge just after the 50th minute. England would now face any even tougher test than they were anticipating but not before they won themselves a penalty after some sharp play by Gordon who was taken down by the Mexican goalkeeper in the box. And who else would dispatch the penalty but Harry Kane? The England captain smashed the penalty to the keeper's right and gave England their 2 goal buffer again. That wasn't the end of the drama though as Kane ended up giving away a penalty after kicking through Gutierrez in the box. Jimenex dispatched the penalty and things became tense again for the Three Lions. Tuchel decided to go to a back 5 for the remainder of the match, bringing on Dan Burn , Djed Spence and Morgan Rogers to see the game out. Each of these subs played a big role in making sure Mexico didn't create many clear cut opportunities and in the end, England looked comfortable in defending the endless onslaught of crosses into the box.

The togetherness and team spirit that has been a main talking point from the England camp all tournament was evident to see in this momentous victory. This result will give the team a big boost in confidence as they prepare to face Norway in the quarter-finals, especially as they will come up against on-fire Erling Haaland.

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