ENGLAND scraped past DR Congo in the last-32 but now face one of the most daunting challenges in the World Cup.
The Three Lions were heading for an early exit until ‘s heroic second-half brace saved the team from embarrassment.
England face Mexico in the last-16 of the World Cup Credit: Getty
The match will be at Mexico’s home fortress, the Estadio Azteca Credit: Reuters
will now face in the last-16 at the home stadium of the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
The North American nation have impressed at the World Cup so far, having won all four of their games.
Mexico reached the last-16 with a dominant 2-0 win over thanks to goals from Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez.
To make matters worse, England are yet to truly convince of their World Cup credentials so far this tournament.
Their best performance came in the 4-2 thrashing of but since then have far from shone against , and .
Brian Cipenga gave the African side the lead and just as hopes started to fade, to save England’s blushes.
Mexico will present a much tougher challenge than the DR Congo on their home turf.
Not only is the team far superior with talents such as Roberto Alvarado, Gilberto Mora and Quinones but the stadium will also aid them.
Mexico will likely be cheered on by a sellout crowd, with England fans being in the minority.
They boast a rampant record at the Azteca, having lost just TWO competitive games there from 89 matches.
Mexico have won 70 times at the Azteca and have never lost there in the World Cup.
So far at the current tournament, Javier Aguirre’s side have played three of four games at the ground.
They have won each game and have yet to concede a single goal in any of their matches.
The only game Mexico have ventured out of Mexico City was to face in the group stages at the Akron Stadium and they won 1-0.
The stadium is also 7,220ft above sea level which could cause issues for the England players.
The Mexicans are accustomed to the altitude and Thomas Tuchel has been warned his players will not adapt in time for the match.
The Estadio Azteca was the scene of Diego Maradona’s infamous handball goal Credit: PA:Press Association
England beat DR Congo in the last-32 thanks to a brace from Harry Kane Credit: Getty
He said: “My understanding is that we cannot adapt to the altitude. That is just a huge advantage that Mexico will have. It just takes too much time.
“We have only three days in between this match. It is physically just not possible to adapt, to adapt to the altitude, which is quite high.
“We knew that before, so this is just something, it’s just a disadvantage which we will have to deal with.
“I think we showed, we showed the attitude that, that we are ready for that, and, and from there we go.”
Thomas Tuchel is worried about the altitude Credit: Reuters
History is also not on England’s side as they have an underwhelming record at the Azteca.
The Three Lions have played six times at the Azteca since 1969 and have only won twice.
They have not tasted victory over Mexico there, having lost one and drawn one against the hosts.
England did beat West Germany and by 3-0 scorelines in 1985 and 1986.
Their most recent game at the stadium was the infamous 2-1 defeat to Argentina after ‘s “hand of god” goal.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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