Ацтека цэнгэлдэхэд Англи Мексикийг буулган авлаа

In the circumstances, England’s 3-2 win over Mexico at the Azteca must go down as their most famous World Cup victory since they won the competition in 1966.

Granted, that is partly due to England’s general pattern over the last 60 years of beating the sides they are expected to beat, then being eliminated as soon as they come across serious opposition. But facing Mexico in Mexico City was an enormous test; given the altitude and the atmosphere, this was a particularly extreme case of home advantage. England’s primary task at the Azteca wasn’t about playing well, it was about surviving.

With that in mind, Thomas Tuchel’s approach was a little different from previous games. In general, Elliott Anderson has sat deep in front of the defence on his own, with Declan Rice tasked with driving forward to the left, almost taking up a position alongside Jude Bellingham, as two attacking midfielders behind Harry Kane.

But opponents had worked this out, and were finding it relatively simple to stop England’s build-up play. “We wanted to shut down the centre better, to cut off the path to Anderson, who is very important to building the game,” said DR Congo manager Sebastien Desabre after his side had caused England serious problems in an eventual 2-1 defeat.

But in the Azteca, Anderson and Rice played as more of a duo, looking to receive passes from defence. Mexico tried to man-mark in that zone, but England rotated efficiently. They didn’t always progress the ball well, but they were at least less predictable — and less exposed to quick attacks if passing moves did break down.

But the real reason England weren’t exposed to counter-attacks is that they didn’t have many sustained attacks of their own. In light of the altitude problem, England slowed the play down, took their time at throw-ins and free-kicks, and attacked with sudden bursts. Their best early moments came from a long Marc Guehi ball in behind for Bukayo Saka, who would have been through on goal with a better touch, and then an Anthony Gordon shot after a long ball from goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

Gordon and Saka were brought in for Marcus Rashford and Noni Madueke presumably based upon their performance from the bench against DR Congo, but because they are effective at breaking suddenly in central positions — making runs off the ball and going in behind.

England’s two first-half goals, both scored by Bellingham within the space of two minutes, were about breaking quickly. The first featured Pickford finding Rice, who carried the ball half the length of the pitch into space, slipped in Saka, who crossed for Bellingham to turn home. The second came after England pressed and forced a high turnover, culminating in Bellingham swapping passes with Kane and again converting into an empty net.

Defensively, England weren’t entirely comfortable. They particularly struggled with Roberto Alvarado cutting inside from the right and crossing with his left foot — one ball for Raul Jimenez forced Pickford into an excellent save.

But England’s actual concessions came when they struggled with a second ball at set-pieces: one fell to Julian Quinones to smash home, the other prompted Kane to kick Brian Gutierrez when trying to clear, leading to a Mexico penalty.

The real game-changing event came between those two concessions. Jarell Quansah’s straight red card summed up England’s problems at right-back and ensured they would spend the remainder of the game defending. Here, Tuchel deserves credit for reacting quickly and decisively. Saka was almost immediately withdrawn, with John Stones introduced and Ezri Konsa moving to right-back. Maybe that was the obvious choice, but Tuchel notably allowed Gordon, down the left, license to stay relatively high on the left, supporting Kane. This proved crucial when Gordon latched onto Kane’s flick, winning the penalty for England’s third goal.

With 15 minutes remaining on the clock — although over 25 in reality given the 11 minutes of time added for stoppages — Tuchel made the biggest call of his England reign. Anderson and Nico O’Reilly came off, with Dan Burn and Djed Spence introduced on the left of defence. With Stones also a substitute, Konsa out at right-back and Guehi in the centre of a back five, this was a completely unfamiliar England backline. The 5-3-1 formation was a clear message from Tuchel: he would let Mexico progress the ball down the flanks, and England would focus on defending aerial balls.

Stones, Burn and Spence probably wouldn’t have been in most supporters’ England squads, never mind on the pitch, but all three thrived. Spence made excellent interventions on the ground, Burn was imperious in the air and made a fantastic block late on with his head, while Stones scrambled away the ball in the final minute of stoppage time. Credit must go to Pickford, who repeatedly came for crosses and relieved the pressure — particularly in a tournament where several goalkeepers have looked ropey when dealing with high balls.

If there’s one criticism of Tuchel, it’s that he took too long to withdraw an evidently exhausted Kane, who couldn’t offer any forward running late in the game, and wasn’t holding up the ball either. It took until stoppage time before Morgan Rogers replaced him, and the fresh legs finally allowed England to get up the pitch to see out the win.

This wasn’t a victory primarily about strategy. It was about coping physically and about the mental challenge of being the away side, and being down to ten men. But England made significant adaptions: playing more directly, and later changing system dramatically. It wasn’t always pretty. But regardless of how far England progress, this victory will be remembered fondly for decades.