England survived a raucous Azteca Stadium atmosphere and a red card early in the second half to prevail past co-hosts Mexico 3-2 in a thrilling World Cup round-of-16 clash in Mexico City on Sunday.
In a game that had almost everything -- including an hourlong weather delay -- the two teams, and the crowd, combined to produce one of the games of the tournament before England clinched a spot in the quarterfinals for a third consecutive World Cup.
Led by two goals from Jude Bellingham and another from Harry Kane, England became the first team to defeat Mexico in the World Cup at the famed Azteca and just the third team to win there in 89 total competitive matches.
As they continue to seek a second World Cup title, and first since 1966, England will take on Erling Haaland and Norway in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Saturday for a place in the semifinals.
"It was a crazy game. We had to find something," said Kane, his voice hoarse and barely audible from celebrating. "All the occasion, the team, everything against us, we found a way."
Mexico twice fought back from two-goal deficits, but their dreams of reaching the quarterfinals for the first time since they last hosted the World Cup in 1986 were dashed.
Bellingham scored twice in 98 seconds to temporarily quiet the impassioned crowd of more than 80,000 before Julián Quiñones trimmed Mexico's deficit ahead of halftime to fire up the atmosphere once more.
More drama was to follow in the second half. England right back Jarell Quansah was assessed a red card for a high challenge on Jesús Gallardo following a video review in the 54th minute that appeared to give Mexico a fresh avenue for a comeback.
Within a matter of minutes, though, Kane extended England's advantage once more from the penalty spot after Mexico goalkeeper Raúl Rangel brought down Anthony Gordon.
It was Kane's sixth goal of this tournament and 14th of his World Cup career, matching Gerd Müller of West Germany for fifth on the tournament's all-time scoring list.
Less than 10 minutes later, Kane became the first player since at least 1966 to score and concede a penalty in the same World Cup game after another video review revealed that he had fouled Brian Gutiérrez.
"I thought I got to the ball first," Kane said of the penalty. "It was one of those days. The ref gave a lot against us. In the end, it didn't matter, so I'm happy."
Raúl Jiménez converted the penalty to set up a furious finale. Mexico attacked relentlessly over the final 21 minutes, plus 11 minutes of stoppage time, but failed to find a way past 10 men as goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and England's defenders held steady.
"This is probably one of the biggest England wins in a while, probably the biggest one I can remember as a fan or player," Bellingham said. "The best night of my England career."
Midfielder Jordan Henderson was taken to a hospital after the match with a wrist injury, coach Thomas Tuchel said. He was hurt when he tumbled over an advertising board during the postgame celebration.
"It's quite a serious injury," Tuchel said.
Mexico have exited the World Cup at the same round-of-16 stage eight times since they reached the quarterfinals in 1986. The only other time they went past the last 16 was the previous time they hosted the tournament in 1970.
After Canada exited the tournament in their loss to Morocco on Saturday, the United States is the lone co-host remaining. The U.S. will face Belgium in the round of 16 on Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.