For five and a half hours on Friday, no one knew when England’s World Cup last-16 match against co-hosts Mexico would kick off. First, Fifa planned to bring the match forward by six hours because of storms forecast around the Azteca. Then came fury from the English and Mexican football associations, who were angry about the change being proposed less than 48 hours before kick-off. And then, in a dramatic U-turn, Fifa abandoned the plan. The match at the Azteca will now start, as originally planned, at 18:00 local time on Sunday – 01:00 BST on Monday.
Behind the scenes, the Football Association was not even aware of the potential schedule change when BBC Sport journalists began to raise questions. It was not until around 20:00 BST that the FA was informed that Fifa was indeed intending to alter the kick-off time. Both national associations were locked in talks with Fifa, raising concerns about fan travel, the logistics of changing the staging of such a huge event at short notice, and the impact on the teams’ preparations. Even Mexican manager Javier Aguirre slammed the changes, calling it a “kick in the stomach.”
“Fifa U-turn leaves England-Mexico kick-off unchanged after five-and-a-half hours of confusion and anger.”
Pub owners and supporters were left angered by the debacle. Adam Curtis, landlord of The Cock Inn in Bishop’s Stortford, said: “What a joke - we make all these plans for a 1am kick off - which takes a lot of organisation then it’s changed to 7pm so we get staffing organised for that. Then they change it back again. There’s no thought at all given to the impact their decision making has.” Over 500,000 fans are due to watch the game in 6,000 pubs across England that are remaining open specially for the match, and over 17 million pints are expected to be drunk.
Superfan Gary Taylor said: “It’s disgraceful to change the time so late in the day and then change it back again. Of course players and fans safety is paramount but this just wasn’t thought through.” Dad-of-seven Owen Pickering, who has spent £20,000 on his World Cup trip, said: “FIFA is rubbish; it’s awful. They have no thought about anyone travelling to the game… We are flying to Orlando and then onto Tampa to fly to Mexico City on Sunday. We do not land until 11 am and it takes 45 minutes to an hour to get to the ground. So with matchday traffic we would have missed it.”
Despite the chaos, England captain Harry Kane struck a rousing tone. He told fans: “I think everyone would love nothing more than to be celebrating as the sun’s rising at 5, 6am.” The England team arrived at their Mexico City hotel with extraordinary security: hundreds of police in riot gear throwing a ring of steel around the building. As Kane and his teammates walked in, they were greeted by passionate fans. But the question remains: will the confusion affect England’s performance on the pitch?