England's late win over DR Congo has now set up a mouthwatering clash against host nation Mexico at the Azteca Stadium on Monday morning.
The Three Lions avoided a monumental upset against DR Congo, rescuing the tie and their World Cup hopes in the final 20 minutes. Brian Cipenga opened the scoring within the first seven minutes for the Leopards, taking advantage of an England defence that has been consistently exposed in this tournament. Throughout the game against DR Congo, England were left frustrated with their opportunities, with Harry Kane denied a first-half penalty upon a VAR check.
Thomas Tuchel made tactical tweaks during the second half by deploying Declan Rice at right-back ahead of a struggling Djed Spence, and yet it was Harry Kane who rescued England once again, with Anthony Gordon playing a huge starring role from the bench. Despite the win, England conceded chances at a premium and were rather fortunate to walk away from the tie still in the World Cup. Thomas Tuchel will be resting on the fitness of Reece James against Mexico, with his frustrations towards Djed Spence showing during the games in which the Tottenham full-back has played.
Despite the defence being a concern, England's attacking threat is still a huge threat to any team in the tournament, scoring eight goals in four matches. Harry Kane is going to be crucial to England's chances in the tournament, with the Bayern Munich striker scoring five goals thus far, with his late brace against Congo moving Kane past Pelé in the all-time tally.
Standing in the way of England is the daunting task of Mexico at the Azteca. Mexico have played 89 matches at the Azteca and won 70 of those, drawing 17 and losing only two. When it comes to the World Cup, they have a similarly impressive record, winning seven matches, drawing three and never losing. In that time, they have kept eight clean sheets and, with the World Cup held in Mexico in both 1970 and 1986, they were knocked out both times in different stadiums.
Mexico have a 100% record in the tournament thus far, with Julian Quinones scoring three goals in the tournament thus far. The Al-Qadsiah winger will likely feature from the left, which could be a huge problem for England, especially with their right-back concerns.
For this game, it is extremely difficult to call. England will need to be much better against Mexico given the conditions and if they start off in a similar fashion to what they did against Congo, the Three Lions will be facing an exit.
England's attack will need to be relied on once again, with this game likely to reach the latter stages and proceed to Extra-Time.
Mexico 2-3 England (AET)
