Brazil vs. Norway. Mexico vs. England. A World Cup Slate For The Ages.

Sunday at the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup features two very unpredictable games in the round of 16. Brazil and Norway will open the day in New Jersey with Erling Haaland looking to continue his impressive scoring run against the five-time champions who suffered a real scare in the round of 32 against Japan. 

The second game takes us to Mexico City where England will need to play much better than it has so far at the tournament against a Mexico team that has won all four of its games without conceding a goal. 

Here is all you need to know for Sunday at the World Cup. 

When: Sunday, July 5, 8 p.m. ET

Where: Mexico City 

TV: FOX

Stream: Watch three days free on FOX One

Sunday’s nightcap between Mexico and England features a matchup between two teams who have deep aspirations of making a deep run in this tournament. Played at the iconic Mexico City Stadium where Pelé and Diego Maradona were crowned World Cup champions, this will be the biggest test either team has faced so far in this tournament. 

Entering this game, Mexico has been flawless at this World Cup, defeating all four of its opponents with clean sheets in every game. It has outscored its opponents 8-0 during the tournament. 

Mexico’s star player has been winger Julián Quiñones, who was the leading scorer in the Saudi Pro League for the 2025-26 season with 33 goals in 31 games for Al Qadsiah. But here at the World Cup, Quiñones has three goals and an assist, with his best performance coming in the 2-0 win over Ecuador in the round of 32 where he shined against a team that conceded just five goals in 18 World Cup qualifiers in South America. 

But Mexico has several different scoring options. At age 35, forward Raul Jiménez has two goals and has been playing as if he was a decade younger. Chivas attacking midfielder Roberto Alvarado has three assists in this tournament and has been critical to keeping Mexico on the front foot in each game. Then there is midfielder Gilberto Mora, who at age 17 is the youngest player in the tournament and is a budding star. Mora earned the start against Ecuador and was dangerous throughout the first half. 

For Mexico to be successful against an English team that hopes to lift the trophy on July 19, it is going to require another big effort from its defense, which has been the best in the tournament. This will be, by far, the best attack Mexico has faced. 

Central defenders César Montes and Johan Vásquez, along with fullbacks Jorge Sánchez and Jesús Gallardo deserve a lot of credit for the team’s defensive success for posting four clean sheets has been a total team effort. Javier Aguirre has his team playing with so much raw intensity that no team has been able to match it.

England has a very tough assignment in this game. Mexico has not lost a competitive home game since 2013. The venue for this game gives Mexico one of the sport’s greatest home field advantages.

The Three Lions have struggled since its 4-2 win over Croatia in its opening game. The scoreless draw with Ghana showed an offense that can sputter when Harry Kane in not on the top of his game. The win over Panama was pedestrian. In the round of 32 against DR Congo, England needed two late goals from Kane to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win and avoid an embarrassingly early exit. 

For England, the team is deep with wingers, but none of the options have been consistent at this tournament and that makes it hard for head coach Thomas Tuchel to know who to start. For example, in the win over Croatia, starter Anthony Gordon struggled while Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford were excellent off the bench to propel England to the win. Then against DR Congo, England was on the verge of a loss before Gordon replaced Rashford in the 60th minute and assisted on both of Kane’s goals.

Tuchel faces a difficult task of getting his starting lineup right and, aside from the expected win over Panama, Tuchel has yet to do so in this tournament. Playing Mexico in Mexico City will be England’s toughest challenge so far, and Tuchel cannot afford to have England start the game poorly as digging out of a hole might be too difficult. 

Another difficult challenge for England in this game, apart from a good Mexico team and a large and mostly hostile crowd, is altitude. That has not been an issue with the location of its first four games, but now England will have to play at 7,220 feet above sea level and that has historically been very, very difficult for opposing teams to handle. 

It is not going to be easy for England, and Tuchel will need to be prepared with a starting lineup that is very fit and a roadmap of when to strategically use its substitutes. 

Player to Watch

Along with Haaland, Kane is one of the best center forwards of his generation. Thus far in the tournament, Kane has been very effective in bailing England out of otherwise subpar performances. In this game, Kane will face the tournament’s best defensive team that will be highly focused on stopping him. 

But even if Kane can be stopped from scoring, he can also be very valuable drifting back into midfield and helping create plays. If Kane struggles in this game, it could be a very long day for the Three Lions. On the other hand, if Kane can find the back of the net early, it will make life easier for England to deal with the crowd and the altitude the rest of the way.