98 seconds to kill, 36 minutes to repay the debt: Bellingham's brace, England didn't collapse at the Azteca.

Bellingham shoved two goals into Mexico's net in just 98 seconds. The entire England team had to hold onto that victory for over 36 minutes. 98 seconds to kill, the rest of the time to pay back the debt.

At the Azteca Stadium, sitting at an altitude of 2,240 meters, all 80,824 seats were packed. A thunderstorm delayed kickoff by an hour, and by the time the players stepped onto the pitch, it was already past midnight in Mexico City. Conditions were tailor-made for the home team—lung capacity, crowd noise, jet lag, all weapons in Mexico's arsenal. Then came the 38th minute, and Bellingham struck. Saka's pass arrived first, one touch, one goal. Before the Mexican defense could even settle, Kane's assist came through, a second touch, a second goal. Under 100 seconds. Lineker took a full 14 minutes to score a World Cup double against Poland in 1986, an England record that stood for 40 years. Bellingham tore it apart at age 23. Five games, four goals. Mexico's Excelsior gave him a nickname after the match: "The Hammer." Getting a nickname from your sworn enemy is more effective than buying your own trending topic. 98 seconds, the third-fastest double in World Cup history.

But the hammer only smashes; it doesn't clean up.

This was Mexico's first conceded goal of the tournament. Their iron defense, which hadn't let in a single goal in four matches, was shattered in 98 seconds. Quiñones pulled one back just before halftime with a goal from open play, making it 2-1. The roar of the Azteca regained its confidence. In the 54th minute, Quansah was shown a straight red card. England were down to ten men with over half an hour to play. Around the 60th minute, Kane stepped up to the penalty spot—Gordon was brought down by Rangel in the box—and converted, his sixth goal of the tournament, making it 3-1. It looked secure. But Mexico weren't going to die gracefully. In the 69th minute, Kane fouled Gutiérrez in his own box, VAR intervened, penalty. Jiménez scored, 3-2. Stoppage time stretched to 11 or 12 minutes. Down a man, under intense away pressure, with an extended stoppage time. Gather all three elements, and the England of old would have crumbled. The Mexicans passed the ball around outside the box, but aside from padding their possession stats, couldn't even slip in a proper through ball into the channels. They had the ball, they rained shots, but the scoreboard stayed frozen. El Universal wrote a chilling line after the match: Mexico's possession had ultimately been "reduced to a statistic."

Bellingham said to BBC cameras after the match: "The England of old would have collapsed." Rooney, sitting in the same studio as a commentator, publicly nodded in agreement. The 23-year-old Real Madrid midfielder and the veteran on England's all-time scoring list were saying the same thing, 20 years apart. In 2006 against Portugal, Rooney could only watch his team exit after a missed penalty; in 2010 against Germany, Lampard's goal was disallowed, and the whole team lost their nerve; as for the 2016 loss to Iceland, it's a bad debt too painful to even mention. Every time, the same way of dying: down a man, hostile crowd, psychological collapse at the crucial moment. This time, all the ingredients for a meltdown were present. Tuchel called it "pure mentality and fighting spirit" after the game, using the word "heroic." A German coach, in the early hours of the morning in Mexico City, praising the English players' mental fortitude in English.

By the time the match ended, it was nearly 4 AM in the UK. Kane's voice was completely gone during his BBC interview, unable to string together a full sentence, with fans mocking him on social media for sounding like Kermit the Frog. Henderson crashed into an advertising board while celebrating, suffering a fractured wrist that sent him straight to the hospital. Prince William posted a congratulatory tweet at 4:15 AM UK time. Bellingham shouted into the camera, telling all of England's fans to skip work the next day. Pubs were granted special permission to stay open until 5 AM.

As this team walked off the pitch, Kane couldn't speak, and Henderson was wrapped in bandages. Their next opponents are Norway—Haaland just sent Brazil home with two goals, and the quarterfinal is in Miami. England have reached the World Cup quarterfinals for the third consecutive time.

Those who have never experienced a collapse often don't know fear. But the grass in Miami doesn't care about such psychological preparation. Haaland just devoured Brazil's defense, and in the quarterfinal, England face another meat grinder.