Jude Bellingham scored a brace in England’s nervy 3-2 victory over Mexico in the round 16 of the 2026 World Cup on Monday. 

Harry Kane also scored a penalty as the Three Lions survived the Azteca Stadium’s high altitude, hostile home crowd and a red card to advance into the last eight of the competition.

England will face Norway, which stunned Brazil with a 2-1 win earlier, in the quarter-final on July 11.

The buildup to the match between England and Mexico was dominated by conversations about the extreme altitude of Azteca Stadium, which sits 7,350 feet above sea level, and its effect on visiting teams. The situation grew even tenser after the kickoff was postponed by an hour due to a thunderstorm and heavy rain.

Mexico had lost only twice in 89 games at their legendary home stadium, and early in the match, they set the usual traps that had aided their impressive record. They swarmed England from the first of referee Alireza Faghani’s whistle.

Jordan Pickford had to make an early save from Raul Jimenez’s diving header to keep the game goalless.

England eventually acclimatised to the conditions and went ahead, with Bellingham scoring two goals within 98 seconds.

The first was a beautiful diving header off a Bukayo Saka cross, while the second was a tap-in after Harry Kane found the Real Madrid midfielder in the Mexican goal area.

But before the Three Lions could bask in their comfortable lead, Julian Quinones pulled one back for the hosts shortly before halftime.

Then the night became tougher for England after Jarrell Quansah was sent off for a reckless tackle after a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review.

Despite the disadvantage, 10-man England added a third when Kane scored from the penalty spot after Anthony Gordon was tripped in the box by Mexico goalkeeper Raul Rangel.

However, Thomas Tuchel and his men held on, displaying one of their best collective defensive performances to advance to the next round.