England survived the punishing altitude, a hostile Estadio Azteca crowd, and a 54th-minute red card to beat Mexico 3-2 in a chaotic World Cup Round of 16 clash Saturday. Jude Bellingham scored twice, Harry Kane buried a penalty, and the Three Lions booked their ticket to a Miami quarter-final. But manager Thomas Tuchel wasn’t celebrating the scoreboard. He walked straight to the microphones and unloaded on the match officials.
The target of his fury was referee Alireza Faghani and the VAR booth. Tuchel called their performance “just not good enough” following a string of decisions that severely handicapped his squad.
The breaking point arrived early in the second half. Jarell Quansah was hit with a 54th-minute dismissal after Faghani initially allowed play to continue. A quick check at the pitch-side monitor changed everything. Quansah saw straight red. That ejection forces an immediate lineup shuffle for Saturday, a headache only compounded as the coaching staff calculates how yellow card suspensions work for the surviving defenders heading deeper into the tournament.
Then came the late penalty. Faghani went back to the monitor and awarded Mexico’s Raúl Jiménez a spot-kick, nearly erasing England’s lead. Tuchel was incredulous.
“Is this a clear and obvious mistake for the penalty? For sure not, but VAR gets involved,” Tuchel told reporters after the final whistle. “They overturn a situation where he doesn’t even give a foul.”
He didn’t hold back on the officiating, but Tuchel gave full credit to his players. He called the gritty 10-man effort a heroic performance that felt like winning a final. Now England turns its attention to Norway, who just stunned Brazil 2-1 behind two Erling Haaland goals, setting up a heavyweight Saturday clash in Miami.