World Cup 2026 analysis: Five talking points from England vs Mexico
Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane dragged England through to the next stage of the FIFA World Cup 2026 once more as Thomas Tuchel’s side defeated the daunting Mexico 3-2 in a display of total grit and determination.
The Three Lions have earned themselves a quarter-final match-up against a confident Norway, led by Erling Haaland in his debut World Cup.
Here, Sports News Blitz writer Stanley Cheeseman looks at five talking points from the Round of 16 clash at the infamous Azteca Stadium that saw England advance through the tournament when the odds were, arguably, against them.
Thomas Tuchel’s tactics
As speculation around the atmosphere of the iconic 87,500-seater stadium mounted, Tuchel was more than aware of the task at hand.
He and his team would be met by a fearless Mexican side with the energy of the crowd, as the host nation, feeding into each player - but how would Tuchel deal with it?
The boss’s orders were clear: soak up the atmosphere by breaking the game up where possible in the first 20 minutes.
England remained calm under pressure, not allowing Mexico to gain significant momentum.
Mexico often want to hunt teams down early on in the game when playing at the Azteca, when the crowd is at its meanest.
Limiting early chances was key if England wanted to survive the first half.
Despite containing Mexico well, Pickford was called into action to make several outstretched saves to deny Raul Jimenez, who was eager to (and eventually did) continue his goal-scoring form.
Tuchel tasked his wingers to attack their fullbacks around the outside to carry the ball into a threatening position with undeniable quality in Saka and Gordon, relieving pressure by physically transporting the ball further into the Mexican half.
After a Jude Bellingham brace, Jarell Quansah’s 57th minute red card forced Tuchel to modify his tactics accordingly.
His answer to going a man down was to push Konsa to the right back position, with John Stones making a return, coming on for Bukayo Saka.
With the score at 2-1 after a VAR decision saw Quansah exit the field, Mexico’s confidence was bound to be boosted - a frightful thought for England, who had a long second half of defensive efforts ahead of them.
After penalties from both Kane and Jimenez were converted, the game was thrown into Mexico’s hands once more.
Tuchel looked to defenders Dan Burn and Djed Spence to fortify the defence in a five-back formation in the 75th minute.
This formation proved successful as relentless pressure was dealt with by the extra defenders for the remainder of the match, including an added 11 minutes at the end of the half.
Tuchel even replaced striker and captain Harry Kane with Morgan Rodgers to aid the defensive contribution, injecting well-needed energy into the midfield.
Brilliant Bellingham
Coming into the tournament, many were critical of Bellingham, and the opinion of favouring Morgan Rodgers in the starting 11 was not uncommon.
The 23-year-old has since settled any debate with numerous outstanding performances.
His heroics continued today, linking up with Kane once more and Saka to net two goals within two minutes.
His movement to arrive at the back post, meeting a delightful Saka cross with a headed goal, was perfect.
This synchronised movement with that of Harry Kane opened up the space by diverting his run to the near post.
Bellingham recorded the most successful dribbles of any player in the match with four, showcasing his class on the ball to navigate through the flurries of Mexican defenders and to drive England to another victory.
His two goals were evidence of his game-changer personality within the team, often the driving force behind England, as seen in the opening fixture for the Three Lions, where he fired England into a 3-2 lead before a late Marcus Rashford dagger confirmed three points.
Not only did Bellingham spearhead the attack, but he also served England with an incredibly energetic and passionate defensive effort.
It could be argued that he lapsed in concentration after a Mexico corner late in the first half, yet his desire to recover and make an invaluable late tackle denied Mexico a certain goal inside the six-yard box.
His seven defensive contributions validated Tuchel’s decision to keep him on the pitch for the entire duration of the match, despite players such as Kobbie Mainoo and Trevoh Chalobah on the bench, who are more defensive-minded and would theoretically provide that defensive solidity that was crucial in the last 30 minutes of the tie.
Bellingham was visibly exhausted in the latter stages, but continued to battle in the centre of the park for his country, keeping Mexico at bay as they threw everything at the English defence.
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Gallant Gordon
A key player in the early stages of the match was Barcelona’s £70m winger, Anthony Gordon.
Gordon embodied Tuchel’s tactics perfectly, winning several fouls to slow the pace of the game and allow the England players to regain concentration, which was mandatory to drown out the fiery spirit of the Mexican crowd.
His incredible work rate, alongside the entirety of the England team, matched the occasion.
Winning fouls deep into his own half before releasing pressure by being direct when attacking his opposing fullback, Gordon understood Tuchel’s methods to weather the Mexican storm.
His blistering pace down the left flank is a weapon in Tuchel’s artillery, which allows England to win fouls and to force defenders to run towards their goal, turning the defence and making it uncomfortable to maintain a solid structure whilst managing a driving winger and runners in behind.
This set right-back Jorge Sanchez on the back foot immediately whenever Gordon received possession.
An early example of Gordon’s efforts in the first half, specifically, came when he showed a relentlessness to chase a long ball from Pickford into the corner, keeping the ball in play superbly before taking a touch around the defender and recording a shot on target to fuel English belief.
Another key moment in the game stemmed from Gordon’s work ethic and pace - a Harry Kane penalty in the second half.
This was a pivotal moment in the game shortly after Quansah had been shown red, which would have allowed Mexico the majority of the second half to fight a numerically disadvantaged England.
Minutes after Quansah’s exit, the chaos was extended when Gordon won England a penalty after the goalkeeper had rushed out of his goal, pouncing onto the ankle of Gordon.
Like many others in the past, 26-year-old Chivas goalkeeper, Raul Rangel, lost the race to the ball after a failed clearance coming off the shoulder of Kane fell into Gordon’s path.
His desire to reach the ball left the referee no choice but to award a penalty after clear contact.
Kane slotted the penalty with a confident strike despite Rangel diving in the correct direction.
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Right-back worries continue
The right-back position has been an ever-present issue throughout England’s campaign, with Livramento and Reece James both falling injured.
The addition of Trevoh Chalobah to the squad over the likes of Real Madrid Bellingham teammate, Trent Alexander-Arnold, was heavily reviewed by English fans as a mistake with Trent’s world-class delivery.
Chalobah has yet to feature, with Tuchel looking to five different players to take on the role.
After starting right-back Reece James was injured in training following the 0-0 group stage stalemate with Ghana, Quansah came in as a replacement in a swift turnaround for the game against Panama, which sealed England's top spot in Group L.
Djed Spence was next in line for the intense knockout game against a lively DR Congo.
However, it seemed as if his playing style was a slight hindrance to the attack of England, who needed a top-class delivery into the box.
As a result, Tuchel spotted this and gambled by putting midfielder Declan Rice into right-back for the outstanding 30 minutes of the match.
Going into the Round of 16, Quansah was recalled to the starting XI, leaving Spence on the sidelines.
Winning 75% of his ground duels, the Leverkusen man was nullifying the threat on the right side effectively before being handed a red card after his foot rolled over the ball in a high challenge into the calf of Jesus Gallardo.
The decision was courtesy of a VAR call after a raging Mexican bench brought it to the attention of the officials.
After this decision, Tuchel decided to draft Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa out wide, substituting England’s number seven, Bukayo Saka, for free agent John Stones to fill in the centre-back spot.
Konsa, predominantly a centre-back, was naturally very narrow.
As Mexico utilised their numerical advantage, they aimed to get as many crosses into the box as possible, substituting the likes of 6ft 2ins attacker, Guillermo Martinez, onto the field.
It could be argued that Konsa’s narrowness meant that he allowed greater time for these crosses to be executed.
When Tuchel shifted his side into a five-back structure with Konsa and Spence as mirroring wing-backs, Konsa remained very tight to the three central defenders, whilst Spence worked accordingly with team-mates on the left side to shut down any threat of a cross.
Despite this positioning, Konsa’s defensive efforts contributed to the commendable effort as a defensive unit in keeping the Mexican attacks out of the English goal.
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Kane’s golden goals
With a crucial penalty in Monday’s game, Kane has fired his name into contention for the Golden Boot once again.
With six goals to his name already, he is one behind Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland in an astounding four-way race for top scorer.
The four elite strikers of the world are pulling their weight on the biggest stage, scoring with each game to carry their nations on their backs, and there’s no letting up for our number nine.
Fans have accused Kane of not being prominent enough in high-stakes games, like the knockouts, in the past.
In his highest goal-scoring season ever, Kane has scored a goal in every knockout game he has played for both Bayern Munich and his national team.
With transfer rumours to Barcelona dampened by the expectation of Kane to sign a new deal at Bayern Munich, Kane has found pure goalscoring form in Germany, netting over 60 goals, and this has been continued into the England team when the nation has needed him most.
Single-handedly dragging England into the Round of 16 with a brace against DR Congo, the skipper has tunnel vision on international glory.
With the lights at their brightest against a sea of Mexican fans in the host nation, England's all-time leading goalscorer seemed to be in a world of his own as he drilled home a fierce penalty to silence the noise.
Nine minutes after getting his own from the spot, Kane found himself defending after a scrappy dealing of another cross.
In his attempts to clear the ball, Kane conceded a penalty himself after Mexican substitute Gutierrez had rightfully challenged to win a bouncing clearance.
Unknowingly to Kane, the challenge came higher to the ball as he brought his foot up and kicked through with the underside of the heel of Gutierrez.
The decision was debated by VAR before advising the referee to look at the replay on the screen for a second time in the match.
Kane’s eye for a goal is just as keen when searching for an assist.
The pairing of England’s two world-class attackers is a dream come true for supporters, as millions watch on to see Bellingham and Kane link up in the classic white and blue once more.
As the game kicked off following Bellingham’s first of the match, an intense England press won possession, triggering the forward run of Kane into the box.
A slip ball into Kane's stride led us all to believe he would find the bottom corner, striking across goal, but the pair showed their chemistry in the final third with a returned ball into Jude arriving at the six-yard box to tap home his second goal, just minutes after his first.
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