2026 FIFA World Cup Day 23 recap: Haaland on fire as Bellingham joins Maradona club in England’s thriller against Mexico

The 2026 FIFA World Cup action continued on Sunday with another two big games in the round of 16. 

It was indeed one of the most thrilling days in World Cup history, as both games served drama till the very end. 

The action started in New York, New Jersey, where Norway took on Brazil before the attention shifted to Azteca, where England faced Mexico and the 80,000 home crowd. 

In usual Pulse Sports tradition, here’s a recap of how things went down in the two games. 

It is official: Norway is Brazil’s kryptonite after the five-time world champions once again failed to beat the European side. 

Coming into the game, The Lions and Drillos were the only team Brazil had not beaten in international football, and that did not change after Sunday as Norway won the clash 2-1 to progress to the quarter-final. 

Although, despite their poor record against them, Brazil went into the game as the favourite and had a chance to take the lead from the spot in the opening half.  

However, Bruno Guimares fluffed his lines from 12 yards after he took over spot kick duty from Vinicius Jr. Brazil continued to dominate, nonetheless, and should have taken the lead when Vinicius put Endrick through on goal in the second half. 

Again, the outcome was the same, as the Real Madrid youngster failed to hit the target. That miss would later come back to haunt Brazil, as Norway took the lead 11 minutes from time through Haaland. 

The usual suspect got the better of his Premier League rival Gabriel Magalhães to head past Alisson Becker in Brazil’s goal. 

Shocked by falling behind, Brazil tried to muster a response, but it was the Viking warlords who doubled their lead in the 90th minute through Haaland again, who fired a stunning low effort past Alisson. 

Although Neymar pulled one back for Brazil from the spot late into added time, it was a little too late as Haaland’s brace fired Norway into their first World Cup quarter-final. 

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As a football fan, if someone asks you what you were doing on the night of July 5, 2026, or the early morning of July 6, 2026, and your answer is not “watching Mexico vs England, then your football fan card should be revoked. 

This is because you missed out not just on one of the best World Cup games of all time, but also on one of the best football games ever. 

The buildup hype for the game was next level, and yet the game over-delivered. It was a game that had everything from drama to controversies and individual brilliance. 

Mexico were looking to qualify for the quarter-finals for the third time on home soil, while England faced the monumental challenge of stopping them in front of a terrifying home crowd at Estadio Azteca. 

The home side started the game on the front foot, with England happy to sit back. La Tri could have taken the lead in the early minutes, but Raul Jimenez’s header was brilliantly stopped by Jordan Pickford. 

That save would prove to be crucial as England took the lead against the run of play through Jude Bellingham in the 36th minute. 

Two minutes later, Bellingham scored his second of the game to double England’s advantage and put them in dreamland. 

However, Mexico’s star man Julian Quiñones pulled one back immediately to reduce the deficit for La Tri going into the break. 

Javier Aguirre’s men came out fighting in the second half and were handed an advantage after Jarell Quansah was sent off for England in the 54th minute. 

However, the North Americans could not capitalise, as England extended their lead through Harry Kane’s penalty after Anthony Gordon was brought down in the box. 

The drama was not over, though, as Jimenez converted a penalty of his own to reduce the deficit again for Mexico after Kane committed a foul in the box. 

Jimenez’s penalty led to a wave of pressure on England’s defence for the last 25 minutes of the match. However, despite Mexico’s best attempts, Thomas Tuchel’s men held on for a thrilling win.