MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s World Cup meeting with England will go ahead at its original time on Sunday, sources told ESPN, after extended discussions Friday involving FIFA and both national football associations.
The match is set to begin at 6 p.m. local time at the Azteca Stadium, which corresponds to 8 p.m. ET and 1 a.m. Monday in the United Kingdom.
Concerns about possible severe weather in Mexico City on Sunday evening had prompted the Mexican government to push for an earlier start, with officials seeking a noon kickoff, six hours ahead of the scheduled time.
However, sources told ESPN that resistance from both the Mexican Football Federation and England’s FA played a key role in FIFA’s decision to reject the proposed change and keep the fixture in its original slot.
FIFA had been looking to avoid a repeat of Mexico’s round-of-32 match against Ecuador at the same stadium, when thunderstorms forced kickoff to be pushed back by an hour.
Mexico coach Javier Aguirre had made clear he was unhappy with the possibility of moving the match earlier in the day.
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“It’s a kick in the gut; now we must change everything. It’s not that all the work goes down the drain — though it’s close — because you’re having to scrap six hours of scheduled planning. I don’t like it at all,” Aguirre told Radio Formula.
“Obviously, we’ll abide by what FIFA says, but neither my players nor I are happy about it.”
Rescheduling the match would have also affected England’s preparations. The Three Lions are scheduled to arrive late Friday and will hold their Saturday training session at the UNAM Pumas grounds in the south of the capital, so would have been left with less time to acclimate to the Mexican capital’s high elevation before kickoff.
Azteca Stadium sits at more than 7,300 feet above sea level. For elite athletes to perform at their peak at high altitude, a period of adaption is required to reduce fatigue caused by lower atmospheric pressure and reduced oxygen availability, experts say. Sports scientists generally recommend an extended acclimation period of at least two weeks, or the “fly-in, fly-out” method of arriving as close to game time as possible before acute symptoms set in.
“My understanding is that we cannot adapt to the altitude,” England coach Thomas Tuchel said Wednesday. “That is just a huge advantage that Mexico will have. It just takes too much time.
“We have only three days in between [the round-of-32 win over Congo DR and the Mexico game]. This is physically just not possible to adapt to the altitude, which is quite high.”
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