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20m agoHalftime: Mexico 1-2 England
31m agoGoal! Mexico 1-2 England (Quiñones 42)
36m agoGoal! Mexico 0-2 England (Bellingham 38)
37m agoGoal! Mexico 0-1 England (Bellingham 36)
3h agoKickoff delayed one hour
4h agoNorway to play winners of Mexico v England
4h agoArrival of teams put on hold
5h agoRain easing off in Mexico
51 min Bellingham makes a surging run, but Alvarez dispossesses him at the corner of the box.
50 min Awkward backpass to Pickford from midfield, but the keeper deals with it. If he’d missed, it would’ve just been a corner, anyway.
49 min OFF THE POST! O’Reilly from long range – beats the keeper but hits the woodwork with a solid thud.
49 min CHANCE for England. O’Reilly gets up into the box and taps it back but misses Kane.
48 min Mexico also pressing, and England can’t get out of their own half. Long-range shot is blocked at the top of the penalty area, and now England are in possession.
Stats show England have only had 31% of the possession.
46 min: England pressing high up the field. Kane called for a foul. The wind is strong enough to blow Kane’s hair around.
Mexico subs one defender for another, and the armband passes from the departing player to the incoming players. It’s Álvarez (West Ham) for Montes.
I’m going to have to pick a few at random – and my apologies for not understanding the Viagra references. I always miss the viral stories.
Scott Wedel: “I think any local politicians wishing to stay in office will declare local clocks are stopped until the game is completed. Thus, people can stay in local pubs until the game is over.”
Nemekhbayar Luuzan: “To all those complaining about stupid kick-off times in the UK : welcome to the lives of the other half of the world (Asia) where Premier League fans have to wake up at ungodly hours to support their team.”
California residents get up at 4 am to catch the early games, too.
Rick McGahey: “Welcome to CONCACAF, this type of overreaction, grabbing the ball, hyper complaining, is a general feature of games in the region when the USA plays qualifiers. Ref should manage but it’s a feature not a bug.”
Mark Raven: “Number of Times England Sideline Throw-in Sails Across the End Line Without Being Touched? My guess: 14.5.”
Hey, it’s common in Under-10 games where I live.
Darryl Tait: “I’m hoping England drank as much of the local water as possible, it really helps with endurance. Though, as a US Soccer fan, it disappoints me that they won’t get the full Azteca experience of playing at noon, in the heat and smog, at altitude.”
Thunderstorms often leave cool air behind them, and the rain is probably refreshing as long as it doesn’t get too hard.
Joe Pearson: “No wonder England keep playing long balls over the midfield. It’s a mosh pit down there!”
Jem Walker: “Working a quiet late shift at a certain sports federation in North America. As an Englishman, I’m outnumbered by green shirts in the office, but we’ve agreed on a shot of mezcal for every Mexican goal and a shot of gin (why not) for every one England gets in the back of the net. Should be an interesting night at work.”
I think I’d sneak in some water.
Martin Gamage: “Don’t want to get ahead of myself but this is one of the best halves (well, two quarters) I’ve seen from an England team. They’ve stayed calm, bought fouls to break the game up and then scored two terrific goals. The first, on the break, was really well worked. Great stuff.”
Colum Fordham: “After the early Mexican onslaught, England have countered not just once but twice. Clinical finishes by Bellingham but superb support play by Rice, Saka and Lane. Also very impressed by Gordon.”
One thing that has to be addressed …
Over the years, Mexico’s federation has been fined, and teams have been made to play in empty stadiums because fans simply would not stop yelling a one-word slur when opposing goalkeepers took goal kicks.
It’s clearly audible in the crowd tonight.
Would you like to see what’s happening in pictures? We have that covered:
Have you ever seen 15 wilder minutes in a World Cup game?
Mexico was outperforming England. Then one sequence of passes changed everything. Within seconds of the next kickoff, England’s lead doubled.
But Mexico struck back. And they nearly did it twice more.
England lead, but it’s by the excellence of Pickford’s two superhuman saves. And Bellingham has gotten it done at both ends.
45 min +6 I think Gordon sold that one a bit. While shielding the ball, he flings his body back into Sánchez, then falls.
Doesn’t matter. Half is over.
45 min +4 GOAL-SAVING CLEARANCE from Bellingham. He scores at one end and saves at the other. Off a Mexican corner kick, the ball is nodded over to Montes, who has the ball bound for his feet just 2-3 yards from goal … until Bellingham stretches out a foot and somehow knocks it up and over the bar.
45 min +3 SECOND BIG SAVE FROM PICKFORD! Jiménez beats the defenders to a ball in the air and sends a header that would’ve nestled just under the bar if not for the quick reaction from the England keeper.
45 min +1 Five minutes of additional time.
And how did Jiménez miss that?! He just scuffed it wide of a gaping goal.
45 min Both teams have been invigorated, and fortunately, it’s leading to extraordinary hustle rather than anything “physical.”
What’s the most dangerous lead in football?
It’s a free kick from the side of England’s penalty area. Into the mixer it goes, and Montes knocks it backward to Quiñones. The Al-Qadsiah striker rips it into the top of the net.
This was unexpected.
Kane could’ve shot that. I’d put money on him scoring or forcing a massive save. But he opted to send it to Bellingham even as defenders converged on him. Bellingham gets to it quickly and taps it home.
England build quickly from the back – not going long, just a succession of midrange passes and Saka crosses.
For Kane? No, it goes over his head, but Bellingham is open and heads it into a nearly open net.
36 min Vasquez chips the ball over for Jiménez, who has a step on Guéhi but can’t get a good shot.
35 min O’Reilly’s foot clearly came up early on a throw-in. Good thing the officials weren’t watching too carefully. Such calls are the bane of the existence of youth referees.
34 min England aren’t pressing much here, allowing Mexico to pass it around. Will that help England at altitude?
33 min The referee is going to have to call a foul on someone. The action is going so fast and furious that it’s hard to tell who started which altercation, but he simply can’t let everything go for much longer.
32 min Very long possession for Mexico. Rice momentarily wins it back but has nowhere to go with it. Back to Mexico, but their patience runs out, and it’s a high rushed shot in the end.
Latest forecast: The heaviest rain should come in the second half.
30 min Maybe the first sign of a wet field, as Saka slips while trying to keep the ball in play.
29 min Faghani is once again telling Lira to watch his behavior again. If Lira keeps it up, Faghani might once again tell him to watch his behavior again.
28 min Bellingham tracks back to win the ball but then takes on one Mexican player too many, immediately giving it back.
26 min Chance for England on a tremendous effort by Gordon to run down a long pass that was nearly out of play over the goal line. He tapped it back in play and shot from an acute angle. Saved.
Rory McCafferty: “I am at the stadium and it is everything they said it was. Hands down best stadium I have ever been to, atmosphere is otherworldly. English are massively out-numbered but everything has been in great humour so far and in great fun, absolute top experience. The pride the Mexico fans have for their country is quite something.”
Mac Millings: “In my experience (first 25 years in the UK - then other places - last 17 in South Carolina), the UK gets more consistent rain, and they have the occasional thunderstorm, but they have absolutely no idea what a real Southeastern US (or Mexican) can’t-see-three-feet-in-front-of-you storm is.”
It doesn’t look like it’s raining hard right now, despite the forecast.
Drink! Or just stand on the field and take in the rain.
21 min Corner to England, headed away, but England get a throw-in – which O’Reilly throws over the goal line.
19 min England are having trouble getting out of their own half, but a pointless foul near midfield (Montes on Bellingham) helps. Montes has a few angry words and gestures with the referee.
17 min It’s a cool (and wet) night, but the temperature is rising with some of the challenges here. Faghani will have to be on top of things.
15 min HUGE SAVE BY PICKFORD! Alvarado crosses to Jiménez, who flings himself at the ball and heads it for the lower corner, only to see the Everton keeper somehow get a hand down to it.
13 min England go over the top as Guéhi finds Saka timing a run very well. But Saka can’t quite control it.
12 min Pickford gets his hands on the ball for the first time in open play, as Alvarado’s pass bounces too far for his teammates.
10 min Long possession for England. Lira shields Bellingham away from the ball and is stunned that there’s no foul and further stunned when the throw-in goes to England.
9 min I am not correct. England run an overly complicated routine off the set piece.
8 min England pass around in their own half, not finding many options going forward. They find Bellingham, who plays left to Gordon, who draws a corner kick.
I’m predicting a goal here.
6 min Lira fouls near midfield, then tries to pick up the ball and walk off with it. Kane comes over to try to retrieve it. The referee has a word with Kane but then calls over Lira, who is astounded and angry.
4 min Mexican fans are eager to chant ole with every pass. They had to be patient while one player considered options. An overeager Sánchez fouls Gordon, allowing England a free kick to relieve the pressure.
3 min Romo is still down. Bellingham and Kane had a chat with Lira in the small group of players standing around the injured player, which is rather strange.
