Thomas Tuchel delivered one of the best victories in England’s World Cup history, beating Mexico 3-2 at the Azteca to reach the quarter-final.
With plenty of factors going against them, England were seen as second favourites in the game by many.
The altitude and Mexican home advantage were seen as huge difficulties to overcome, but England got over the line.
Tuchel’s tactical adjustments were key to levelling the playing field as much as possible, and each and every player carried out the plan to perfection.
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In this article, we’ll cover
Early plans to neutralise
The first 20 minutes were always going to be vital to the game, as Mexico would come out the blocks fast, looking to use the crowd to their advantage.
Pressing high, looking to be direct and put England under pressure and get the crowd on their side, Tuchel would need a plan to neutralise this early threat.
Tuchel set England up in a 4-2-3-1, but with Declan Rice playing as the right-sided central midfielder, despite playing towards the left in previous games.
With Jarell Quansah at right-back, Rice would rotate positions and find himself in deeper right-back zones, extending Mexico’s pressing distances and looking to disconnect their high press.
While England tried to keep possession and slow the pace down in settled phases of play when they could, they did not take many risks playing out.
From restarts, Tuchel instructed his side to go long and play over the Mexico high press, setting up in a 4-2-4 and going direct.
The off-ball plan had to match their on-ball ideas, still looking to take the early sting out of the game and manage their workload in testing conditions.
England set up with a more passive 4-4-2 shape, giving Mexico a 3v2 in their first line, with Erik Lira dropping in to create the +1.
The wide men and two central midfielders then had their references to jump out and apply pressure, but would keep a compact start position to block the middle of the pitch.
While the pressing triggers weren’t perfect, the collective effort to protect space and delay behind the ball made up for it.
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Kane and Bellingham superstars
Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham have continuously stepped up in the big moments throughout the tournament so far.
And that didn’t stop against Mexico, as Bellingham’s perfectly timed brace relieved England of pressure after a gruelling opening half hour.
The opener came from an England break, with Rice driving the ball forwards 30/40 yards, before finding Bukayo Saka in a wide 1v1 isolation.
As Saka beat his man on the outside, it was Bellingham arriving from outside the box, attacking the space behind Kane and nodding it home.
The second goal though showed why the dynamics between Kane and Bellingham have worked so well during this tournament.
One of Bellingham’s best assets is his ability to arrive in the box and score goals, something that is enhanced by Kane’s usage.
On the break for the second goal, Bellingham finds Kane inside the box who managed to provide the reverse pass into Bellingham continuing his move and finding the net to make it 2-0.
By allowing the pair to dovetail off of one another, Bellingham can get into dangerous areas to crash the box, while Kane has more passing options and runners to either receive the ball or take attention away from him.
Herculean defensive effort
While the opening tactical adjustments and the partnership of Kane and Bellingham are super impressive, it was the late changes that defined the game.
After Quansah received a red card in the 54th minute, Tuchel was tasked with protecting England’s lead with 10 men for the final 35+ minutes.
An important factor to mention is the timing of England’s third goal after the red card, which helped to alleviate that pressure for a period of time.
However, despite the change to take Saka off for John Stones, moving Ezri Konsa to right-back in a back four, it was the changes after Mexico made it 3-2 that were super impressive.
To protect their lead and hold on to what England had earned, Tuchel decided to shift into a back five for the final 15 minutes (+ stoppage time).
Nico O’Reilly and Elliot Anderson made way for Djed Spence and Dan Burn, shifting England into a 5-3-1 shape off the ball.
England did a brilliant job at sitting in a narrow shape, protecting central areas and forcing Mexico out wide to deliver crosses.
This suited Tuchel’s side after the changes, adding plenty of height to defend the box and still having the workrate of Bellingham, Rice and Anthony Gordon across the midfield three.
Once the ball went out wide, the ball side wide player (Bellingham or Gordon) would tirelessly shift over to apply pressure, with the rest of the block shuffling accordingly.
It was a determined, resolute and endured performance from England in the final 25 minutes (after 11 minutes being added on), deserving their win and progression to the quarter-final fully.
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Norway next?
Tuchel will have a few decisions to make, both tactically and personnel wise going into the Norway game at the weekend.
With Erling Haaland on seven goals so far, one of the main tactical factors will be how England can nullify his goal threat.
The 25-year-old doesn’t need a high volume of touches to be effective, it will be how they defend him inside the box and cut his service which is key.
With Quansah picking up a red card and Reece James still recovering from an injury, the right-back decision will be one in question.
You also have the condition of Rice to consider, as you look to manoeuvre these late rounds without overextending yourselves before arriving in the semi-final and final.
Could a similar passive approach work for England against Norway who held 66% possession against Brazil or will Tuchel prefer to return to a possession-based approach himself?
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