Image Source, Getty Images
photo caption, Mexicans Armando Gonzalez and Raul Rangel after the match.Product information
- Author, Daniel Pardo
- Author’s title, BBC Mundo correspondent in Mexico
- Publication date July 6, 2026 03:18 GMT
Updated 8 hours
Reading time: 4 min.
“We played like we never played before and we lost like we always do,” said Sebastian Llapur, a Mexican who was leaving Reforma Avenue on Sunday night after Mexico’s 2-3 World Cup defeat to England.
Another fan then added: “They’ll give us one more minute and we’ll equalise.”
Hundreds of thousands of people gathered on Mexico City’s main avenue to watch the game on giant screens set up outside City Hall.
It was a celebration until the referee blew the whistle for the end of the match, which ended the 2026 World Cup for Mexico in the round of 16 and marked the first defeat of the Mexican team at Estadio Azteca in a World Cup match.
So the Mexican press this Monday morning had one word in their headline: “Aztecazo!”
The team, however, came away with their heads held high after a World Cup in which they played better than expected, brought great joy to the people (especially by defeating Ecuador in the round of 16) and fought to the end against England, one of the best positions to win the tournament.
Image Source, Charlotte Wilson/Getty
photo caption, Mexican fans watched the game with interest.
“This is the big league and you can’t make a mistake because they judge you,” said Javier Aguirre, Mexico’s technical director, referring to England’s first two goals, scored by Jude Bellingham in the 36th and 38th minutes.
“I feel sorry for the people, but my players can be confident because they did everything they could against a great team,” Aguirre added.
Mexico finishes the third World Cup it hosts with the feeling that it could have gone further, not only because it played excellent football during the tournament (it reached the round of 16 undefeated, with 4 wins, 8 goals for and 0 against), but also because England were not particularly dominant on the field.
But now it is the British who advance to the quarterfinals and will play against Norway on Saturday, July 11, in Miami.
Image Source, Michael Steele/Getty
photo caption, Mexico missed the target that would have given them a draw.
Voltage in an electrifying environment
Tension was the dominant feeling at Estadio Azteca even before kick-off, with a thunderstorm accompanied by rain forcing the game to be postponed by an hour.
The Mexican players started the game confidently, actively, creating the clearest possible options and dominating most of the time.
But England needed Bukayo Saka’s cross and Bellingham’s header to take the lead.
This caused an unusual lack of concentration on the part of the Mexicans, which led to the Real midfielder scoring a second goal two minutes later.
That didn’t end the game, however, because four minutes later, Julián Quiñones, Mexico’s World Cup figure, scored an injury-time goal to put Mexico back in the game.
The game was filled with friction in the second half, despite Mexico’s dominance leading to no clear scoring opportunities.
England international Jarell Quansah was sent off in the 53rd minute, but Mexico’s numerical superiority did not appear to benefit Mexico for the remainder of the match.
In the 60th minute, Harry Kane scored England’s third goal from the penalty spot, and in the 69th minute, Raul Jimenez did the same, also from the penalty spot, to make the final score 3-2.
Although they gave it their all, the Mexicans were unable to turn the breakthrough into a result.
At the same time, they were excluded from the World Cup in the last match, which was scheduled in Mexico.
Exiting Reforma Avenue, the crowd, despite the defeat, continued the party: they used up the remaining foam, ate the tacos that were missing, and sang “Cielito Lindo” once again.
The “what if” dream that spoke of the distant but realistic hope of winning the tournament now ends.
The satisfaction remains that the game was played well, the tourists were treated like brothers, and it was shown once again that if this had been a tournament in which fans competed, Mexico would have won by a landslide.
Image Source, Getty Images
Subscribe here Sign up for our new newsletter to receive a roundup of our best stories of the week every Friday.
And remember that you can receive notifications in our application. Download the latest version and activate them.