Hosts Mexico will face an ever-fierce England side in their FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 clash at the Azteca Stadium on Sunday. El Tri will enter the game on a 4-game winning streak, have yet to concede a goal in the tournament and will be hoping to keep their momentum going by upsetting the Three Lions.
But before today’s much-anticipated clash between the two nations, when did these two last face each other in the competition?
The previous and only clash between the two took place in the 1966 World Cup, which was hosted by England and remains the only edition of the tournament that they won. It was a Group 1 match, played on 16 July 1966 at Wembley Stadium in London. Having played two-time champions Uruguay just five days ago, England entered the game under immense pressure. The North Americans were also looking for their first win of the tournament after a 1-1 draw with France on match day one.
After playing Uruguay, the Three Lions entered the record books for the wrong reason as the host nation failed to win their opening match for the first time, but remained the only team to win the World Cup after drawing their opener.
Alf Ramsey’s side were heavily criticized by the English press and home fans for their lackluster performance against La Celeste. It was precisely this failure to break down the Uruguayan defense that forced Ramsey to abandon his wide players and pave the way for a tactical switch to his famous “Wingless Wonders” system in the next game against Mexico.
Disappointed with the result and performance against UruguayRamsey dropped his wingers John Connelly and Alan Ball. He brought attacking midfielder Martin Peters and right winger Terry Payne into the starting eleven and took a more direct approach to the game.
Mexico coach Ignacio Telles designed a deep defensive formation specifically to stop European teams.Or the first 35 minutes, the tactic was working perfectly for Tales with the Mexican defense keeping England’s star striker Jimmy Greaves completely quiet. Legendary Manchester United forward Bobby Charlton gave the hosts the breakthrough, breaking the ruck after making a lung-bursting run and unleashing a 25-yard rocket.. Keeper Ignacio Calderon pounced, but fired the ball into the top corner with perfectly calculated speed.
Mexico had beaten England’s backline several timesBut timely positioning by Bobby Moore and a great performance by Nobby Styles kept El Tri at bay. England eventually put the game to bed late in the second half with Roger Hunt reacting quickest to the rebound after Jimmy Greaves’ shot was held by Calderon. England won the match 2-0.
The win gave England the boost they were desperately looking for and eventually the Three Lions won the whole thing, defeating West Germany 4-2 in the final.
England vs Mexico head to head
England have won four of their last five matches against Mexico.
England v Mexico: Last five meetings
| Date |
Competition |
result |
| 24 May 2010 |
International friendly |
England won 3-1 |
| 25 May 2001 |
International friendly |
England won 4-0 |
| 29 March 1997 |
International friendly |
England won 2-0 |
| 17 May 1986 |
International friendly |
England won 3-0 |
| 9 June 1985 |
City competition |
Mexico won 1-0 |
Written by Madhav Sachdeva, intern at Online Sports Desk
