Mexico’s World Cup preparations have been thrown into disarray after players handed back expensive Rolex watches gifted by a content creator, just hours before they face England in the last 16.
The watches were given to the squad by Stephen Rocco Deleonardis, known as SteveWillDoIt, after he banked $1.2m (£900,000) from a $2m bet on Mexico’s 2-0 victory over Ecuador in the previous round. The gesture went viral, but it contravened Article 20 of the FIFA Code of Ethics, which strictly limits gift acceptance.
“Mexico players returned Rolex gifts and faced kick-off change before England World Cup last-16 tie.”
Mexico’s Football Association confirmed the watches had been returned. “By mutual agreement, our players decided to return to the content creator the watches that he had gifted them on his own initiative,” a spokesperson said on X.
Manager Javier Aguirre, who also received and then gave back a watch, was already seething over a separate FIFA decision to change the kick-off time against England without consulting either federation. “That’s right, it’s like a kick in the gut, it changes everything, the plan,” Aguirre told Radio Formula. “It’s not that it’s completely ruined, but almost, because you have to swallow six hours of scheduled training. Obviously, we will abide by what FIFA says. I don’t like it at all, nor do my players. Of course, the food, the nap, the sleep, the physiotherapy, everything, everything, it seems trivial, but it isn’t. Today, 60 people are working here so that these 26 friends can go out on Sunday and win the game.”
Meanwhile, BBC Sport football expert Chris Sutton has been making his predictions for the last-16 ties, including England against Mexico. Sutton correctly called 13 out of 16 matches in the previous round, outperforming AI’s 12 correct predictions. Users, however, lead the way with 70% accuracy across the tournament so far.
Mexico face England at the Azteca Stadium on Sunday, with altitude and these off-field distractions adding to the challenge.