Norway vs. England: Three Lions will look to take inspiration from "magical" and "chaotic" win over Mexico

Ahead of England's 2026 World Cup quarter-final with Norway, Sports Mole's Football Editor Matt Law discusses the Three Lions' win over Mexico in the round of 16.

Matt Law, Football Editor: "Reminded me of matches from days gone by"

It reminded me of matches from days gone by. 

The pre-game chaos, the talk of the kickoff being moved, the weather, the security concerns, the atmosphere in that stadium: it felt like a match from days gone by, what the World Cup is supposed to be about.

We've lost that in football now, a lot of the VAR stuff and all the structure. Football's supposed to be off the cuff, magical, dramatic, thrilling, unpredictable, chaotic. 

Matches like that make children fall in love with football or strengthen their love for football. 

Matches like that bring you together, fighting for your lives under pressure: balls into the box, Pickford saves, headed clearances, bodies in the way. 

There was a lot of pre-tournament talk about whether Jude Bellingham was going to start. There was even talk about whether Morgan Rogers was going to play over Jude Bellingham. 

I like Morgan Rogers a lot, I think he's a really good footballer, but he's not in the same stratosphere as Jude Bellingham. Jude Bellingham is a world-class footballer. 

He didn't have the best season last year: eight goals, five assists for Real Madrid, and he missed the start of the season and had a hamstring problem. 

But he's now on 10 goals, 11 assists in 53 games for England, with four goals and one assist at this World Cup, including that double last time out. 

The Bellingham thing that stood out for me was that clearance he did, at 2-1 England, in the latter stages of the half when Montes at the back post looked like he was going to convert. 

Bellingham somehow got a foot to it and tipped it over the crossbar at a period where Mexico were really putting the pressure on. 

The red cards, the two penalties: were they both penalties? I'd love to talk about the Mexico one being a little bit harsh, but Kane does kick through the player, so you can see why that was given. 

It would've been a different game if England had gone behind. If it goes 2-2 and they go 3-2, or they go one-nil down, the atmosphere would've made it tough for England. 

But they did enough to get through to the next round. It was brilliant: an iconic football match that will be part of England fan songs moving forward.