The World Cup demands nerve, and for a glorious two-minute spell either side of the half-hour England had it in abundance. Then, for the best part of an hour, they were made to suffer for the privilege. A 3-2 win over Mexico in the round of 16 was not the serene procession the scoreline of the first half promised, but it was a triumph forged in exactly the conditions that separate the survivors from the sightseers at a tournament like this.

Jude Bellingham was the architect of the early breakout, twice arriving in the six-yard box to punish a host defence that had been sleeping. Harry Kane later held his nerve from the penalty spot. And when Jarell Quansah's dismissal on 54 minutes flung the door open, England had to slam it shut with ten men against a Mexican side roared on by every soul inside the ground.

It was breathless, occasionally chaotic and never comfortable after the interval. But England endure, and it is the quarter-finals that beckon now, not the long flight home.

Bellingham's blitz

For half an hour the Estadio Banorte hummed with the belief of a home crowd, and then England simply took the air out of it. On 36 minutes Bukayo Saka swung in a cross from the right and Bellingham stole across his marker to head into the bottom-left corner from close range. The finish was almost contemptuously simple; the movement that created it was anything but.

Two minutes later the game had all but turned. Harry Kane teed up his midfielder inside the box and Bellingham lashed a right-footed shot into the top-left corner, again from point-blank distance, the sort of predatory poaching that has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with reading the room. Two touches, two goals, and Mexico were reeling.

That England should carve open a knockout tie so ruthlessly, so quickly, spoke to a side that had come with a plan and executed it without sentiment. The scoreboard read 2-0 and the noise had drained from the stands. For a few minutes, at least, this looked like it might become a stroll.

Mexico refuse to fold

Knockout football rarely allows a lead to settle, and Mexico answered before the interval. On 42 minutes a set piece caused the panic England thought they had avoided, and Julián Quiñones stabbed a right-footed finish high into the centre of the net from the middle of the box. Suddenly the arena had its voice back and the tie had its pulse.

The half-time whistle could not come quickly enough for the visitors, who trooped off knowing the momentum had swung against them in the space of a single delivery. Mexico had found the flaw and would spend the second half probing it, sensing that a two-goal cushion in this heat, on this stage, was thinner than it looked.

Then came the moment that reshaped everything. On 54 minutes Jarell Quansah was shown a red card, and England's task was recast entirely. A game they had been controlling with numbers now had to be managed with grit, discipline and no small measure of good fortune. Ten men, a one-goal lead in the balance, and a nation baying for the equaliser.

Penalties and pressure

Adversity, though, brought out the steel. On the hour England won a penalty and Harry Kane did what Harry Kane does, stroking the ball into the bottom-left corner with the unhurried certainty of a man who has taken these kicks in his sleep. It was 3-1, and it restored the two-goal buffer that Quiñones had erased. The captain's composure in that moment may prove among the most valuable contributions of England's tournament.

Mexico would not be shaken off. On 69 minutes they had a penalty of their own, and Raúl Jiménez matched Kane's precision, drilling low to the bottom-left corner to make it 3-2 and reignite the contest with more than twenty minutes still to survive. From there it became a rearguard, England ceding ground and inviting wave after wave, the seconds crawling as the hosts hurled bodies forward.

That England held on with ten men, in that cauldron, is the true measure of the night. There were scrambles, there were nerves, there were moments when the leveller felt inevitable. It never arrived. The final whistle was greeted with the exhausted relief of a team that had won ugly after starting beautifully.

What comes next

For Mexico the tournament ends here, and it ends with a lament for the first half rather than the second. Having clawed back to within a goal twice, the hosts will feel they gave everything once the deficit was set; the trouble was those two Bellingham strikes, and the set-piece frailty that allowed England their early cushion. A home World Cup exit in the round of 16 will sting, but the fight shown after the interval offers something to build upon.

England, meanwhile, march on, and they do so having answered a question that a smoother victory would have left hanging. Can this team suffer? Can it defend a lead when reduced to ten and besieged? On this evidence, yes. Bellingham supplied the brilliance, Kane the nerve, and the rest supplied the sweat.

There will be sterner examinations still to come, and the manner of the closing half-hour will give the coaching staff plenty to chew over. But tournaments are won by teams that find a way on their difficult nights as well as their glorious ones. England did both inside ninety minutes at the Estadio Banorte, and the quarter-final is their reward.