England delivered an extraordinary World Cup victory to set up a quarter-final clash with Norway, surviving the rarefied air and fervent home support of the Estadio Azteca to beat Mexico 3-2 despite Jarell Quansah’s red card.

Jude Bellingham was England’s hero, scoring two goals 99 seconds apart to fire his side into a first-half lead against the run of play, but after Julian Quinones hit back and then Quansah saw red early in the second half, it looked The Three Lions’ World Cup demons could return.

Yet Harry Kane and Raul Jimenez traded penalties, and England produced a steadfast rearguard action to see out 11 minutes of stoppage time and claim one of their finest World Cup results.

The game got off to a sluggish start with Thomas Tuchel’s side looking to control the game and buy breaks wherever possible, with the hosts losing the foul count 6-1 in the opening half-hour.

However, the contest exploded into life when Jordan Pickford launched a deadly England counter-attack that ended with Bukayo Saka cutting to the byline and expertly sending the ball to the back post where Bellingham was waiting.

And The Three Lions’ faithful could scarcely believe it less than two minutes later when Elliot Anderson won the ball back straight from kick-off, and Kane slid a well-disguised pass across goal for Bellingham to turn home once again, their sixth joint goal participation for England.

That ignited a fearsome Mexican response, though and four minutes later the hosts were back in the game, as England failed to deal with a dangerous free-kick delivery that fell into the path of Quinones, who smashed his fourth goal of the tournament past a helpless Pickford.

The onslaught continued right up until the half-time whistle as Pickford was forced into a superb diving save, and Cesar Montes looked set for a tap-in from the ensuing corner until Bellingham miraculously appeared to clear the danger.

A more resolute England pushed back in the second half and Nico O’Reilly hit the post, but their task got much tougher when Quansah’s foot bounced up into Jesus Gallardo’s shin in a last-ditch challenge and the referee had no other choice than to send the right-back off via a VAR check.

The pendulum swung again when Kane fed Anthony Gordon, who was felled in the box for a penalty, and the captain made no mistake from the spot to restore the two-goal lead, yet that lasted just eight minutes before Jimenez scored his own penalty.

Kane innocuously caught Brian Gutierrez battling for a bouncing ball, leaving The Three Lions with 20 minutes plus stoppage time to defend their slender advantage in the toughest of environments.

And incredibly, England did. Mexico peppered the penalty area with crosses, but in his best game of the tournament, Pickford marshalled his territory superbly alongside nine determined outfield players.

England’s reward for becoming only the third side to beat Mexico at the Estadio Azteca is a clash with Norway on Saturday evening in Miami for a place in the World Cup semi-finals, though they may be without Jordan Henderson who injured his wrist in the celebrations according to Thomas Tuchel who said the injury “looks really bad”.