England defeated Mexico in a five-goal thriller at the Azteca Stadium to advance to the 2026 World Cup quarter-finals.
The match however recorded some casualties along the way.
First, Jarell Quansah was sent off for a high challenge on an opposition player, meaning the ex-Liverpool man would be ruled out of the next game. Then, Jordan Henderson was involved in a freak accident following the full-time whistle.
The midfielder had to be taken off the pitch on a stretcher, with Thomas Tuchel quite downbeat about his condition.
Mexico became the second of the three host nations to crash out of the competition on home soil. And had they advanced to the next round, one of their bigger names would’ve likely been watching from the sidelines.
Mexico star suffers injury
Mexico’s manager, Javier Aguirre, threw caution to the wind in search of an equaliser against 10-man England. As a result, he introduced as many attacking players as possible as the opposition soaked up the pressure.
One of those positive substitutions was bringing on AC Milan forward Santiago Gimenez for 17-year-old Gilberto Mora in the 61st minute. However, the change didn’t have the desired impact and the striker failed to get involved.
Worse still, Gimenez was unable to take part in the final moments of stoppage time and could be seen lying at the side of the pitch in severe pain. The 25-year-old was quickly taken to hospital after the full-time whistle.
He had been chasing down the ball but was challenged by England’s Djed Spence. While the defender got the ball perfectly, Gimenez’s ankle could be seen twisting awkwardly.