Mexico vs – Mexico and England meet at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on Sunday, July 5, with kick-off at 6pm local time (CST). Mexico enter the last 16 ranked 10th and unbeaten across four matches, while England are 4th and have been saved more than once by Harry Kane. Fr
The twist in the build-up almost felt disrespectful to the moment: talk had swirled about moving the kick-off forward by six hours, then the plan was dropped. Now Sunday finally arrives at Estadio Azteca, and Mexico vs England is the kind of match that turns time itself into pressure.
Mexico enter the last 16 as World Cup co-hosts, ranked 10th and unbeaten in four matches. England are ranked 4th and come with a different kind of urgency—less about dominance, more about survival. The venue is at the heart of it all: Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Kick-off is 6pm local time (CST) / 5pm PT / 8pm ET / 1am BST (Monday).
Mexico’s path to the last 16 has been striking in its control. They have yet to concede in their four matches and are averaging two goals a game. They topped Group A with wins over South Africa (2-0), South Korea (1-0) and the Czech Republic (3-0). In the round of 32 at the Azteca. they beat Ecuador 2-0. with star players Raul Jimenez and Julian Quinones securing Mexico’s first World Cup knockout win since their last home tournament in 1986.
England’s route has been bumpier. After beating Croatia 4-2 in their opening group game. they drew 0-0 with Ghana and then beat Panama 2-0 to top Group L and set up a round of 32 tie with DR Congo. In that match, frustration seemed to define England’s evening. They trailed to Brian Cipenga’s early opener. and for long stretches it looked like England were heading out—until Harry Kane stepped forward with two goals in the final 15 minutes. Those strikes took England’s tournament tally to five and his World Cup total over the years to 13. the joint sixth-highest total of all-time.
The television schedule mirrors the split feeling around the game:
USA: 8pm ET / 5pm PT: Fox Sports (English), Telemundo/ Peacock (Spanish)
Mexico: 6pm CST: TelevisaUnivision/ TV Azteca
Canada: 8pm ET / 5pm PT: TSN /RDS
United Kingdom: 1am (Monday) BST: BBC One and iPlayer
What might decide it from Mexico’s side is the sense that they’ve finally become themselves at exactly the right moment. Before the tournament, the broader impression was unconvincing. But the picture now is different: Mexico have played themselves into the competition. stumbling upon a system that brings out the best in key players.
Defence is the anchor. Cesar Montes is described as enormous, and Johan Vasquez is described as classy. Left-back Jesus Gallardo is solid and neat on the ball. while Jorge Sanchez has nailed down his place with committed performances. Add an acrobatic goalkeeper. Raul ‘Tala’ Rangel. and it becomes easier to understand why Mexico have yet to concede in this tournament.
Up front, the concerns for England don’t come from one player so much as from choices. Raul Jimenez is familiar to England players because he has played in the Premier League in recent years. He has only scored twice so far. but his hold-up play has been good. and he occupies defenders in a way that creates space for runners in behind. That brings the spotlight onto Julian Quinones. described as a direct. fearless dribbler and a capable finisher from the left flank. On the other side. Roberto Alvarado tends to drift inside into pockets of space. looking for opportunities to play through balls and crosses.
Midfield for Mexico is built around Erik Lira, combative out of possession and tidy with the ball. The creative burden largely falls on Gilberto Mora, Mexico’s 17-year-old sensation. Mora tends to drift more to the right, where he combines with Alvarado. The assessment is clear: Mora is two-footed, slippery, and smart beyond his years.
The final midfield spot is likely to go to Luis Romo, described as Mexico’s weakest link at this point. He is tall and elegant as a passer, but he isn’t the quickest, and can be got at. Even with that concern, Mexico are balanced—and they tend to fly out of the blocks looking for a goal. The first 20 or 30 minutes could matter a lot. not just for Mexico’s confidence. but for England’s ability to stay composed.
England’s version of the match is harder to read because of what they arrived with and what they have endured. Their most important story is simply that England are still here. They took seven points from a tricky group and then scraped past DR Congo in Atlanta in the last 32.
But England’s performances have often felt like work. They came in wanting aggressive, athletic, dominant football—like a Premier League team. At times, they showed it, especially in the second half of their opening game against Croatia in Dallas. Yet much of their tournament has been a slog. stuck in games where they couldn’t get rolling—particularly against Ghana and then for most of the Panama match. Spells early against DR Congo also suggested they had lost their heads. with England close to doing what the write-up calls ‘doing an Iceland’—a nod to Euro 2016’s notorious defeat.
Part of the reason is availability and fitness. England arrived with fitness concerns over key players: Declan Rice does not look himself. Bukayo Saka has largely been used as an impact sub. Reece James has picked up a hamstring injury. and John Stones has only started once. Even with only three goals conceded in four games, the defence has often looked like a mess.
This England team is also more reliant than ever on Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham. Kane has five goals already and effectively saved England from an early exit in Atlanta. Bellingham is described as sharp, hungry, focused, and consistent. If those two keep producing, England can compete with anyone. The problem is that they do not look like the perfectly coordinated unit many were expecting.
When the match turns into individual duels, the star power doesn’t disappear—it sharpens.
Harry Kane holds the key for England. Across their four matches to this point, he’s done it all: dropping deep to spray passes, shifting into wider areas to create overloads, and scoring goals of different types at crucial junctures.
For Mexico, Julian Quinones is described as brilliant in taking players on and amping up the Mexican fans. Quinones, along with Alvarado on the other side, has created chances for the rejuvenated Jimenez. England’s centre-backs—Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa—will have to deal with Jimenez. who is described as a penalty box threat and as someone who gets plenty of chances from crosses.
The match also carries history, and not just generic history—pain, memory, and something that feels like unfinished business.
England have a deep history at the Azteca. In 1970. they were 2-0 up against West Germany with a little over 20 minutes to go in the World Cup quarter-finals. only to lose 3-2 after extra-time. Sixteen years later. Diego Maradona scored with the ‘Hand of God’ and the ‘Goal of the Century’ to knock England out in the World Cup quarter-finals. For a certain generation of England fans. that game is described as the definitive moment in the team’s modern history. and it has been everywhere in the build-up to this game.
Tuchel even said earlier this week that England might be due some karmic revenge because of it. But the opponent is different. That game was against Argentina and was held in Mexico. which still makes playing in Mexico profoundly significant given the pain of the 1970 and 1986 World Cups—but playing against Mexico is described as a slightly different prospect.
England have played nine games against Mexico over the years, but only once in a major tournament. That came at the 1966 World Cup, when England and Mexico were drawn in the same group with England enjoying home advantage at Wembley; Bobby Charlton and Roger Hunt scored in a 2-0 win.
Since then. the games were mostly friendlies. with two at the Azteca—1969 and 1985—both coming one year before England came to Mexico for the World Cup. The most recent meeting was at Wembley in May 2010. a warm-up before England flew out to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup. Ledley King, Peter Crouch, and Glen Johnson scored England’s goals in a 3-1 win.
If there is a single practical edge that might shape the entire match, it’s altitude. According to the science cited in the preview. the altitude disadvantage for England means Mexico effectively start this game 1-0 up. Estadio Azteca sits at 2. 200m (7. 220ft) above sea level. and the piece describes how every 1. 000m of altitude gain is worth half a goal to the home team based on prior research into South American football.
That makes England’s early-game discipline a non-negotiable. They need to avoid conceding early in the manner they did to DR Congo. They were forced to expend a lot. physically and mentally. into the comeback win there. and repeating that at the Azteca would be especially exhausting. particularly with only four days rest.
For England to win. the preview says. they need patient possession and the ability to slow the game down as much as possible. It plays into their technical superiority too. while Mexico are described as watertight—along with Spain. the only teams yet to concede. Javier Aguirre’s side is said to have allowed just two goals in 12 games this calendar year. and they’ve kept clean sheets in friendly draws with Uruguay and Portugal.
When England press, they must get it right. DR Congo played through and round them, and the reason matters: Mexico have a good front line. Quinones has scored three times, and Alvarado has created three of Mexico’s eight goals.
The preview also points to Jimenez again—former Fulham and current Wolverhampton Wanderers striker—described as a penalty box threat who gets chances from crosses. That’s not a small detail; it’s a direct line to how Mexico can hurt England.
The build-up closes with expert predictions that mirror the split between quality and environment. Dan Sheldon predicts England 1-2 Mexico and says that where the altitude and difficult atmosphere sit. this is where England’s World Cup ends. Seb Stafford-Bloor predicts England 1-0 Mexico. arguing that Mexico’s quality is as much an adversary as the altitude. but that England have the goalscoring efficiency to survive. Oliver Kay goes for Mexico 2-1 England (AET). with the atmosphere. the heat. the altitude. and an extra day’s rest all playing into Mexico’s hands; he suggests it could be a mad match. possibly including penalties—where he says he fancies England.
Matt Slater predicts Mexico 1-2 England. He says he had it the other way around until Brad Friedel—named as one of his favourite Americans—told Gary Lineker’s NetFlix show that Mexico are mediocre and run out of puff. and he isn’t entirely sure the last part is true but he’s back on board the “Tommy Tuchel Train.”.
Set pieces and crossing are the kinds of edges that look small until they aren’t. For England. the preview points to air power: since 2018. England have scored nine headed World Cup goals and had 54 shots. with France listed next at seven headed goals and 32 shots. The threat is that England pack the penalty area at crosses. with Kane headed in against Panama and DR Congo. and Bellingham making a habit of crashing the box.
For Mexico. the clever stat is crossing efficiency: among teams to make the knockout rounds. Mexico have the highest cross completion rate—one in three crosses finds a target. compared with the World Cup average of one in five. They cross infrequently, the preview says, picking their moments rather than relying on volume. Jimenez has won eight first contacts off balls delivered from the wings. a metric that only Uruguay’s Federico Vinas (nine) beats.
Even the referee becomes part of the suspense. The match is officiated by Alireza Faghani, set to officiate at his fourth World Cup—a record. He is regarded as the top referee in Asia. with prestige appointments including the Fifa Club World Cup final won by Chelsea in New Jersey last year. He was in Iran when he took part in the 2014 tournament in Brazil and the 2018 edition in Russia. and he reffed the gold medal match at the 2016 Olympics. Since 2019, he has been living in Australia, operating on its A-League and covering matches in the Asian Champions League.
The preview paints him as unlikely to be swayed by player protests. It also notes that Kane and Bellingham have persistently been in the referee’s ear in all four England matches to date, and that anyone trying to berate him will waste time and emotional energy.
The questions hang over Faghani’s fitness—at 48 he may struggle refereeing at altitude—and his chequered relationship with VAR at World Cups. In 2022. he was front-runner for the final in his home continent until he accepted advice from Qatari video official Abdullah Al Marri and awarded Portugal a late penalty for handball against Uruguay. The call was deemed incorrect. he did not receive another appointment. and the preview adds that he may have had that
weighing on his mind back in New Jersey when he was asked by Saudi VAR Abdullah Alshehri to review his decision not to award Kylian Mbappe a penalty in the France vs Senegal match. Replays showed a clear foul by Sadio Mane. but Faghani stuck to his decision and announced that. in his view. Mbappe initiated the contact—called nonsense in the preview—and said the experience might have seen him sent packing again. until FIFA head
of referees Pierluigi Collina was more forgiving.
After all that, the next question is where the winners will go. This match is the final game of the tournament to be held in Mexico. with all fixtures from the quarter-finals onwards taking place in the U.S. The winners will head to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, to face either Brazil or Norway on July 11. That match kicks off at 2pm PT/ 5pm ET/ 10pm BST. The tie between Brazil and Norway takes place at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday. with kick off at 1pm PT/ 4pm ET / 9pm BST.
One match, two paths, and one shared belief that details—altitude, fitness, early control, set pieces—can rewrite everything in the space of a single half.
Mexico vs England Estadio Azteca World Cup last 16 Harry Kane Jude Bellingham Julian Quinones Raul Jimenez Cesar Montes Johan Vasquez Gilberto Mora Alireza Faghani altitude Mexico