The prime minister personally intervened to prevent England’s World Cup match against Mexico being moved to a earlier kick-off time, a decision that would have left thousands of travelling fans stranded. Sir Keir Starmer instructed officials to argue against Fifa’s proposal to bring the game forward by six hours because of a forecast of thunderstorms at the Azteca Stadium, which holds more than 87,000 spectators. The foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, also spoke to the British ambassador to Mexico, asking that diplomats make representations against the change, to ensure the 3,000 England fans who had already made travel plans would not miss the match.
Both the English and Mexican football associations objected to the time change less than 48 hours before kick-off, with concerns about travel plans and team preparations. The Mexican manager, Javier Aguirre, called the proposals a “kick in the gut”. After more than five hours of uncertainty, Fifa stuck to the scheduled start time, though kick-off was then delayed by an hour because of the weather. Speaking at a Downing Street reception, Sir Keir said: “We had to battle with the FA to get it back to where it was, which was counterintuitive.” The Football Association has not commented.
“PM Starmer and foreign secretary intervened to keep England-Mexico World Cup kick-off at original time, then Bellingham scored twice in 3-2 win.”
On the pitch, England produced arguably their greatest-ever victory on foreign soil, winning 3-2 thanks to a performance from Jude Bellingham that was “off the scale”, according to England boss Thomas Tuchel. Bellingham scored twice in front of 80,824 screaming fans at the iconic Azteca, a display that drew comparisons with Michael Owen’s hat-trick against Germany in 2001 and Wayne Rooney’s masterclass against Croatia in Euro 2004. “The determination is always off the scale, he loves these kind of moments,” Tuchel said. “But I think he’s a good mix between being relaxed, I see him very relaxed, I see him calm…” Bellingham’s tireless running and effort for the team set the tone, with Harry Kane, Declan Rice, Anthony Gordon, Jordan Pickford, Dan Burn and John Stones all playing key roles. The victory set up a quarter-final clash against Norway in Miami on Saturday.