There cannot be a better reason to be up ridiculously early on a Monday morning than to watch England play in the World Cup.
A place in the quarter-finals is at stake as England tackle co-hosts Mexico at the high-altitude Estadio Azteca in a 1am kick-off UK time.
For England it’s a return to the scene of the crime, the venue where Diego Maradona’s infamous Hand of God goal in 1986 helped Argentina win their World Cup quarter-final clash 2-1.
Heading into the evening we will witness one of international football’s longest standing rivalries featuring Portugal and Spain.
The 42nd Iberian Derby kicks-off at 8pm at Dallas Stadium with Spain looking to avenge their 2025 Nations League final defeat when the two last met.
Below we look ahead to both games with some selections from NetBet Sport’s wide range of World Cup odds.
*All odds are subject to change
Mexico vs England: Double Chance And Both To Score – 1 or 2 And No @ 2.09
This is not so much an uphill battle for England, it’s more of a mountain that needs climbing. Even if you discount the thin air of the Azteca being 7,220 feet above sea level and a fervent home crowd, there’s the small matter of Mexico being one of the in-form teams in international football right now. Mexico have won all four games at the 2026 World Cup so far without conceding a single goal. They are also unbeaten in 12 games and conceded just two goals in that time. History doesn’t calm English nerves either. Mexico have only lost twice in 89 games at the Azteca since the stadium opened in 1966, winning 70 and drawing 17. England have managed to keep four clean sheets in their last six games, so this could prove to be a tight affair.
Mexico vs England: Anytime Goalscorer Double Chance – Harry Kane or Raul Jimenez @ 1.70
Big games are generally decided by big players and England and Mexico both have supreme strikers capable of stealing their team the win. England’s record goalscorer Harry Kane has five goals from his four games in this tournament and has had at least two shots on target in all but one of those matches, the 0-0 draw with Ghana. That makes his odds of @ 2.67 to have over 1.5 shots on target in this game tempting. Raul Jimenez is five goals away from matching Javier Hernandez’s record total of 52 goals for Mexico. He has scored three times in his last four international appearances, has two for the tournament and took the most shots (4) as Mexico beat Ecuador 2-0 in the last round. One of these two marksmen is surely destined to play a pivotal role in this game.
Portugal vs Spain: Outcome And Both To Score – Spain And No @ 3.10
A Goncalo Ramos header four minutes into stoppage time sealed Portugal’s dramatic 2-1 win over Croatia in the Round of 32. Cristiano Ronaldo had just one shot on target in that game, scoring the equaliser from the penalty spot. It maintained Portugal’s unbeaten run at this World Cup, but two wins and two draws is evidence of a team not yet operating at maximum speed. Spain have proved that their opening 0-0 draw with Cape Verde was simply an off-day. They have won all three games since then and haven’t conceded a goal at the tournament while scoring eight of their own. They are sat on a 34-game unbeaten streak in international football, but such records should always carry an asterisk. Among that sequence is a 2-2 draw with Portugal in the final of the Nations League in March 2025, the last time that the two met. Portugal won the subsequent penalty shootout 5-3. In open play, these two have drawn a hefty six of their last seven games against each other dating back to 2012. Recent history says it is always a close contest and we take Spain to edge this one.
Portugal vs Spain: Anytime Goalscorer – Mikel Oyarzabal @ 2.10
We have liked the look of Real Sociedad striker Mikel Oyarzabal throughout this tournament. He bagged two more goals as Spain dismissed Austria 3-0 in the Round of 16. That brought his tournament total to four plus one assist, with a goal every 75 minutes on average. It also extended his goalscoring run to seven from his last six internationals. It is a far healthier return than CR7. Ronaldo has collected just three goals from his last seven games for Portugal, plus a red card during a 2-0 defeat by the Republic of Ireland last November. Those three goals have all come at this tournament though, and it is always dangerous to write him off. But Oyarzabal is the man with the momentum right now.
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