Mexico vs. England: Three Lions facing "daunting" task at glorious Estadio Azteca

Ahead of England's clash with Mexico in the last-16 stage of the 2026 World Cup, Sports Mole's Senior Reporter Oliver Thomas discusses the Three Lions' chances.

Oliver Thomas, Senior Reporter: "All about the result in knockout football"

England were on the ropes against DR Congo until Harry Kane came to the rescue. It wasn't a great performance overall but they still found a way to win. 

As England fans, we don't really care too much how England win. As much as a strong positive performance is desirable, it's all about the result in knockout football. 

For a nation feeling 60 years of hurt, if you ask every England fan whether they'd perform like they did against DR Congo but win every remaining game at this World Cup including the final, they would take that and snap your hand off. 

England just want to win, and winning against Mexico is not so straightforward. They probably need a bit more than Kane heroics to get over the line in this one. 

A lot has been made about Mexico's impressive record at the Estadio Azteca. It's a stadium steeped in history and has become a real fortress for Mexico. 

It's over 7,000 feet above sea level, which is quite unique in the modern era for that alone. Physically and psychologically, players fatigue quicker when playing at that altitude. 

Mexico are used to it and have that advantage. Interestingly, the highest stadium altitude in English football is West Brom's Hawthorns at just 551 feet, which is 14 times closer to sea level than the Azteca. 

When you add the atmosphere from close to 90,000 Mexico fans, it's daunting for opposing teams. Mexico's home record overall is 89 games, 70 wins, 17 draws, and just two defeats. 

That's remarkable for any country on home soil. In the World Cup, it's seven wins and three draws in 10 games, so they're unbeaten at the Azteca in World Cup football. 

England will head into this bidding to end Mexico's unbeaten run. The last time anyone beat Mexico at the Azteca was September 2013, Honduras. 

Since then, they've actually played 26 games unbeaten. England are probably going to be one of the strongest opponents on paper that they will actually face. 

If you look at some of those opponents, probably Portugal are the only nation that can really be compared to England in terms of quality and strength. 

Mexico have played Panama four times, plus the likes of Canada, USA, New Zealand, Honduras and Scotland. 

The point is that Mexico have this strong home record, but they've never truly faced an elite nation when it matters most in the knockouts of a major tournament during that period. 

While Mexico will have every right to feel really confident in this game, England represent their toughest test yet. Mexico will be fancying it, though. 

They've won every single game at this World Cup so far without conceding a single goal, and they've got that monkey off their back by finally winning a World Cup knockout game for the first time since '86 when they last hosted the tournament.