Frida Fagerlund
This is a commenting text. Analysis and positions are the writer’s.
MEXICO CITY. A two-goal scorer, a red card, two penalties, an oxygen mask, countless emotional storms and a rain of Tequila.
Does that sound like a fever dream?
No, it’s just an insanely wonderful night at Azteca.
It was a sight no one wanted to see after a football match that exceeded all expectations.
Jordan Henderson, the father of the team, is carried away on a stretcher with an oxygen mask over his mouth. And not even because of the height – but because he celebrated England’s victory a little too hard and fell straight on his arm.
It will probably take a long time for the Mexicans to accept that their championship ended here tonight. Several times they were close, not least when they suddenly had to play with one more man.
The vocal chords in the stands carried the team a bit, but not all the way.
I have been hard on this English team and pointed out the flaws in the defence. Thomas Tuchel’s gang is not perfect. They have not convinced as much as France or played with the same self-evident elegance as Spain.
But to go to this city, to this stadium, score three goals and then defend the lead with one man less for 40 minutes – that’s heroic.
The Spanish-language songs have died down, as have the loud burpees. The rain has finally stopped. The only thing heard in the night is Wonderwall.
A taste of tequila
We take it from the beginning, right after the last thunderstorms.
Drummers banging furiously on their instruments. A Mexican wrestler doing somersaults along the sideline. Thousands of Mexicans jumping so violently that the press stand sways alarmingly as they chant:
Y si si! Y si si!
This is the site of England’s most famous World Cup trauma, the hand of God. You don’t have to be particularly spiritual to understand that it is holy ground, that the arena bears some of the most important chapters in football history. It is the temple of the Mexicans – a gigantic shrine in a city that vibrates with football in every corner.
I understand those who would have liked to see Mexico City host the World Cup final. New Jersey doesn’t produce nearly the same out-of-body feelings.
That pleasant rush down the spine… That taste of tequila when Mexico scores a goal and the rain is suddenly replaced by flying splashes of booze.
From boiling cauldron to zero degrees
England arrived in the capital with a clear plan: to slow down the pace.
It is highly unusual for Thomas Tuchel to instruct his players to slouch. Every fixed situation became an opportunity to save strength and equalize the Mexicans’ advantage in lung capacity.
The first task was to survive the initial onslaught. It wouldn’t have been without Jordan Pickford’s lightning-quick dive towards the left post when Raúl Jiménez headed the ball home. It was exactly the kind of class save the goalkeeper needed to boost his confidence and shake off his nerves.
Certainly, Mexico showed a sharper game on small surfaces. But England have a player called Jude Bellingham who can dominate both penalty areas (his clearance later in the game was worth as much as a goal).
First, Bukayo Saka got around on the edge and created a numerical advantage in the box. Bellingham met the cross and headed in the lead goal. Before the visiting English supporters could even celebrate properly, the next blow came – Bellingham again.
In 98 seconds, Azteca went from being a boiling cauldron to feeling zero degrees.
Twist on twist
But the temperature would soon rise.
It is possible that Julián Quiñones has ended up in the shadow of all the stars that shone during this World Cup.
But among the more anonymous names, the 29-year-old winger – a native of Saudi Al-Qadisiyah – is one of those who have stood out the most in recent weeks. The fact that Saka was so often forced to lie unusually deep in his own half certainly had a lot to do with Quiñone’s technical quality.
His reduction, a distinctive finish from close range, dampened the shock of the Mexican supporters.
The match was far from over. Soon we were treated to another twist in this captivating drama.
No one on Mexico’s bench missed Jarrell Quansah sliding in with the studs ahead of Jesús Gallardo. It was like watching a moshpit in real time as Mexicans and Englishmen rushed at each other and clashed between the technical areas.
Red card for England’s reserve at right back. Center back Ezri Konsa was moved to the wing and John Stones was thrown into the hot air.
Everything would be pressed
And then again – before anyone could even realize that England were playing with ten men, Anthony Gordon had got past goalkeeper Raúl Rangel, who brought down the winger.
Penalty to England.
Harry Kane scored 3–1.
Shortly afterwards, Kane was adjudged to have kicked the leg of Brian Gutiérrez, giving Mexico a penalty. Jiménez reduced to 2–3.
It was a night like that, a night when everything would be pushed in. Red cards. Penalties. Oxygen masks. A collective that refused to give way, with Dan Burn as an extra beacon.
When the final whistle sounded, both players and audience collapsed inside the arena, exhausted from all the impressions and emotional storms.
England are through to the quarter-finals of the World Cup. 40 years after the national trauma, England have finally had their revenge at the Azteca.
