2026 World Cup: Short-handed England holds off Mexico at home behind 2-minute Jude Bellingham brace

England has battled their way back to the quarterfinals, defeating Mexico 3-2 in Mexico City on Sunday. The thrillingly close matchup had plenty of action, with five goals, a straight red, two second-half penalty kicks and a whole lot of chaos, but it ends with a narrow escape for England, and heartbreak for El Tri. After being delayed by an hour due to inclement weather, the match got off to a pretty slow start — until things got very exciting, all at once. Jude Bellingham broke through in the 36th minute with a diving header; less than two minutes later, he scored again. Mexico, though, responded well to the sudden lead: Shortly before the end of the half, Julián Quiñones hit a great second-chance strike off a corner kick to keep El Tri in the game. The madness continued in the second half. In the 54th minute, England defender Jarell Quansah was given a straight red card after VAR reviewed a studs-up tackle that catches the leg of Jesús Gallardo. Though that left England down to 10 players, a penalty kick in the 60th minute gave the Three Lions a chance to pad their lead, after Raúl Rangel fouled Anthony Gordon in the box. That left captain Harry Kane able to convert the penalty with ease, scoring his sixth goal at this World Cup and giving England a 3-1 lead. But Mexico was far from done: Minutes later, Kane knocked legs with Brian Gutiérrez in the box, giving El Tri a penalty after another VAR review. Raúl Jiménez nailed the kick to pull Mexico back within one goal. The remaining 20 minutes — plus a whopping 11 minutes of stoppage time — gave Mexico time to try and find the equalizer. But despite being down a player, England was able to deftly hold off Mexico’s attempts. As El Tri grew increasingly more desperate, the changes got agonizingly close, but Jordan Pickford had three excellent saves, and Mexico continued to fall just short. This story will be updated.