For five and a half hours on Friday, no one knew when England’s World Cup last‑16 match against Mexico would kick off. The confusion began with reports from Mexican journalist Andres Vaca of TUDN that FIFA was considering moving the game forward by six hours – from Sunday evening to midday local time – because of storms forecast around the Azteca. The governing body was said to be worried about lightning and flooding, and it was unclear whether celebrations in Mexico City that left four people dead after Mexico’s last‑32 win over Ecuador also played a part.
England’s squad was wrapping up an open training session in Kansas when the first rumours hit social media. The Football Association knew nothing; BBC Sport journalists had to chase information. The FA was not officially informed until around 20:00 BST, and it asked for more time to understand the reasoning. Behind the scenes, both the English and Mexican governing bodies were locked in talks with FIFA. They were furious that the change was being proposed less than 48 hours before kick‑off, citing the impact on fan travel, staging logistics and team preparations.
“FIFA sparked fury by considering moving England-Mexico then U-turning after five and a half hours of chaos.”
Meanwhile, landlords and supporters were left scrambling. Adam Curtis, landlord of The Cock Inn in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, criticised FIFA: “What a joke – we make all these plans for a 1am kick‑off, 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.” Over 500,000 fans were due to watch in 6,000 pubs staying open specially, and 17 million pints were expected to be drunk across 30,000 pubs on Sunday. Superfan Gary Taylor called it “disgraceful”. Dad‑of‑seven Owen Pickering, who had spent £20,000 on his trip, said, “FIFA is rubbish … they have no thought about anyone travelling.” He was flying via Orlando and Tampa and would have missed a midday kick‑off. Even Mexico manager Javier Aguirre slammed the changes as a “kick in the stomach”.
FIFA then performed a U‑turn, leaving the kick‑off time unchanged: 18:00 local time on Sunday (01:00 BST Monday). England captain Harry Kane shrugged off the turmoil, telling fans: “I think everyone would love nothing more than to be celebrating as the sun’s rising at 5, 6am.” The team arrived at their Mexico City hotel under extraordinary security, with hundreds of police in riot gear surrounding the building. The match at the Azteca will now go ahead as originally scheduled – but the trust between fans, landlords and football’s governing body has been badly shaken.