Wayne Rooney believes that England's dramatic 3-2 victory over Mexico is one of the greatest performances by the Three Lions at the World Cup. 

England booked their spot in the quarter-finals of the World Cup at the iconic Mexico City Stadium, with Jude Bellingham's quickfire brace putting his team in control. 

Julian Quinones halved the deficit before half-time before Jarell Quansah was handed a red card nine minutes after the restart, becoming the fourth England player to be sent off at the World Cup and the first since Rooney against Portugal in 2006. 

Despite going down to 10 men, Harry Kane restored England's two-goal advantage on the hour with a penalty after Anthony Gordon was brought down by Raul Rangel. 

Mexico were then awarded a spot-kick of their own after Kane kicked through Brian Gutierrez, with Raul Jimenez converting from 12 yards in the 69th minute as England had their backs against the wall for the remainder of the contest. 

However, Thomas Tuchel's side stood firm and reached their 11th World Cup quarter-final. Only Brazil (15) and Germany (14) have reached more in the competition's history.

England also became the first team ever to beat Mexico at Mexico City Stadium in the World Cup, with their opponents having gone unbeaten in 10 games prior to their defeat. 

"The whole team were excellent, but the big players stood up," Rooney said. "Jordan Pickford had his best game and the two centre-backs were really good.

"Ahead of the defence, Declan Rice was excellent and Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane really turned up.

"We sat in, and I was worried we would go too deep too early, but they put bodies on the line, they were all outstanding and I thought we deserved it. We were the better team.

"That was one of England's greatest results and performances. The attitude, the grit, the desire – they had it all."

England had just 33.2% possession against Mexico, their lowest in a World Cup match on record since 1966, while their 48 clearances were their most in a match in the competition since making 54 against Belgium in 1990.

The backline were put under immense pressure for the final 20 minutes after a barrage of crosses from Mexico's wide players, but were able to clear everything in their path. 

That was highlighted by substitute Dan Burn, who despite only coming on in the 75th minute, made the joint-most clearances against Mexico with six. It's the most clearances made by a player subbed on that late into a World Cup game on record since 1966.

Ezri Konsa was the other player who made six clearances for England, and he believed the "brotherhood" in the squad fuelled their famous triumph, which sealed a date with Norway in the last eight. 

"100%, it was a brotherhood, you saw that today, the effort we had to put in," Konsa said. "Certain players were changing positions, like myself, and putting in a shift.

"If you want to go far in the tournament, it's what you have to do. The boss had to make some changes. I thought Dan Burn and John Stones were excellent when they came on.

"Having those kinds of players to come on and help us was a great feeling.

"The only thing we were thinking was to show our togetherness, to show how good we can be together defensively.

"I am sure at home it was an amazing game to watch, but on the pitch it was a long one, especially when there are 11 minutes added on, but we had to show our strength, show our grit. Really proud of the boys and on to the next one."