Jiménez urges – Raúl Jiménez says Mexico can compete with England at Estadio Azteca by playing fast from the start, warning that the team’s altitude advantage at 7,350 feet could matter more than any short-term adjustment. With Mexico one win from the quarterfinals for the fi
Raúl Jiménez knows how this matchup always looked on paper—Mexico and England meeting in the knockout stage. What’s different now is the setting, the timing, and the expectation pressing on every touch.
The collision is set for July 5 at Estadio Azteca. the very stadium where England once suffered a defeat to Argentina in Diego Maradona’s era. and a place that marks England’s return to Mexico City after playing there for the first time since. For Mexico. the stakes carry a weight that goes beyond one match: a win would put El Tri one step from the quarterfinals for the first time since 1986. the last time they hosted a World Cup.
Jiménez made the message simple in interviews before the highly anticipated Mexico-England game. “We are aware of what this game means to us, what it means for all Mexicans,” he said. “And we’re pretty confident that we can go play with them.”
The groundwork for this meeting was laid when the 2026 World Cup groups were drawn on Dec. 5 of last year. Jiménez said he realized that, if results fell into place, Mexico would be on a collision course with England in the round of 16 on July 5.
Altitude is part of the plan—and part of the risk. Estadio Azteca sits at 7,350 feet above sea level, a challenge that visitors feel quickly. England’s camp has been in Kansas City, where the average elevation is 909 feet. England trained in Mexico City on Saturday. but manager Thomas Tuchel has repeated that it won’t be possible for his squad to acclimate to the altitude in just two days.
That reality shaped Jiménez’s advice to teammates. He argued Mexico should come out as they did successfully against Ecuador in the round of 32—fast enough to tire England early. leaving them gasping before they can properly find their rhythm. “The simple fact of letting them know that we aren’t less than,” Jiménez said. “That we can compete from one to the next, that we can play a good game. We have the support of all the fans here in Mexico, of El Azteca.”.
He also put the focus on desire. “We know that you don’t need to analyze them a lot to know that they’re a great national team,” he said. “They’re a great team with many individualities but also collectively and that to win this match, we have to want it more than them.”
Back line vs. front line—where Mexico believes it can strike
Mexico will be looking for its scoring threat in open space. England’s back line has been one of its biggest weaknesses throughout this World Cup. and Jiménez suggested that dynamic could play into the plans of Mexico’s leading scorer. Julián Quiñones. especially in the attacking third where chances can come quickly.
Jiménez also has a personal read on England’s goalkeeper. The Three Lions’ goalkeeper is Jordan Pickford, and Jiménez has scored the most against him in his career—six goals in six games played against him. Yet even that history wasn’t the main thing on Jiménez’s mind as kickoff approaches.
“I think that the goalkeeper in front of us, that’s the least of it,” Jiménez said. “If we put it on the angles like the other day, there is no goalkeeper that can stop it. That’s always important. He’s a great goalkeeper. too. that’s why he’s also been in the Premier League so long and he’s the English national team’s starting goalkeeper for a reason.”.
The Premier League years, the club career, and what Aguirre saw
Jiménez brings a particular kind of experience to this match. He has spent the last eight years of his career in the Premier League, battling with Wolverhampton and Fulham and scoring 88 goals in the best league in the world. Through Mexico’s four matches in this tournament, he has scored twice.
Mexico manager Javier Aguirre first met Jiménez when he was at Atlético Madrid. Aguirre said he was struck immediately by the young forward’s humility—and that it has never changed as Jiménez’s career unfolded. “He’s a kid that despite having those years in the best league in the world. in my opinion. he’s still the same person he was when he left. ” Aguirre said. “ … He keeps being the same guy that I met who knows, a ton of years ago. He’s here as one more helps as one more, he behaves as one more. He’s not a clown or a diva, or however you wanna say it.”.
Aguirre pointed to a team culture built for consistent integration. He doesn’t separate training sessions into starters and reserves. and everyone gets reps together because players can be plugged into the lineup at any time. The players refer to each other as family. and Aguirre said there’s a level of authenticity to it that makes it feel real rather than scripted.
That sense of closeness has mattered, Jiménez said. He acknowledged that every one of the four World Cup squads he has been part of has felt close—but this year’s team has stood out. He said it may be because the players have spent almost every waking moment together at el Centro de Alto Rendimiento since early May. In his 13 years since his first cap, Jiménez called this the most united he has ever seen El Tri.
With everything tightening toward July 5, Mexico’s path runs through one key question: can they turn the stadium and the altitude into an early edge—before England settles?
Jiménez doesn’t offer any illusion of an easy fight. “We have to know that it won’t be anything easy, but it can be done,” he said. “No one is invincible.”
Raúl Jiménez Mexico vs England Estadio Azteca 2026 World Cup round of 16 Thomas Tuchel altitude Jordan Pickford Julián Quiñones Javier Aguirre Wolverhampton Fulham