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How England-Mexico makes case as best World Cup Round of 16 match ever originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
It surpassed the hype.
England and Mexico were set to meet Sunday night at the Azteca in Mexico City in the FIFA World Cup Round of 16, and it was a highly anticipated clash. Somehow, it was better than everyone expected.
There were brilliant goals, incredible saves, VAR reviews, a red card, everything you could ever want in a football match.
If there's ever been a better Round of 16 match at a World Cup, it can't have been by much.
This was the brilliance of sports in pretty much every way.
How England-Mexico was best Round of 16 World Cup match ever
We've got to go down this list, because everything was epic.
Jude Bellingham's rapid-fire goals
The match was 0-0 late in the first half.
Then Jude Bellingham scored two goals in 1 minute and 38 seconds for England.
As if that 2-0 lead wasn't thrilling enough, Julian Quinones shared a few minutes later to pull Mexico within 2-1 at the half.
MORE: Singing Hey Jude as Bellingham sets epic World Cup record
Jordan Pickford's saves
The England goalkeeper had multiple leaping saves.
His best was a dive to his left to deny a Raul Jimenez diving header in the first half.
Without Pickford's play, England doesn't win.
VAR, penalties and red cards
The referee kept going to the monitor for calls.
England and Mexico each ended up with penalty kicks thanks to VAR.
England also had Jarell Quansah sent off for a red card for high studs on a challenge.
The action was quite intense.
The Azteca
Mexico hadn't lost a competitive match at its national stadium in more than a decade.
There were 87,000-plus fans in the stadium, the super high majority wearing the colors of El Tri.
It's as tough an environment as England will ever play.
MORE: An on-brand finish to Neymar's Brazil career
Holding on for dear life
England, down a man for the last 35 minutes, had to hold on for dear life.
Then the fourth official put up 11 minutes of added time, and it got even crazier.
England didn't try to attack. They held firm in their own end, somehow maintaining their lead against immense pressure.
The magic of sports
The best part of all of this: Even with all the hype, you never know how it's going to play itself out.
This is why we watch the games, to see things that astound, astonish, amaze us.
This match had all of that and then some.
On this night, The Beautiful Game was both gorgeous and ugly, in all sorts of ways.
And not a soul could take their eyes off it.
More FIFA World Cup news:
- USA, England can meet on the biggest World Cup stage
- Why Norway brought 600 pounds of salmon to the World Cup
- Lamine Yamal's little brother is going viral
- With Messi, history and magic go hand in hand
- How Folarin Balogun is allowed to play vs. Belgium after red card
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