FIFA Holds England-Mexico Kick-off at 1am; Storm Delay Still Likely
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- FIFA decided England's last-16 tie against Mexico stays at a 1am Monday UK kick-off, declining a proposed six-hour shift that had been mooted by Mexico City's local organising committee after four deaths outside the Ecuador round-of-32 match on Tuesday
- Mexican journalists were the first to flag a possible six-hour kick-off change, asking England players Morgan Rogers and Marcus Rashford how they felt about it at 1pm Friday (7pm UK time) on England's training pitch in Kansas City
- Mexico City's local organising committee — involving local council, police and emergency services — estimated over one million people gathered in roughly one square mile near the Angel of Independence monument after the Ecuador match, prompting the safety review
- Updated weather reports shifted the storm risk window: damaging storms are now forecast across the four hours before kick-off rather than during the match or after the final whistle, meaning an earlier kick-off could have made the situation worse
- FIFA safety protocols bar the game from starting or restarting if lightning is detected within a six-mile radius, requiring a 30-minute lightning-free window — and lightning remains likely between 2pm and 6pm local time (9pm-1am UK time)
- 85,000 supporters are expected inside the Azteca Stadium, and meetings between FIFA and local officials will continue at the venue right up until the scheduled kick-off on Sunday night
Why it matters: FIFA's decision leaves 85,000 fans inside the Azteca Stadium and UK supporters who planned around the early Monday morning kick-off vulnerable to a last-minute weather delay — the safety protocols that could trigger a stoppage trace directly back to the four deaths outside the Ecuador match three days earlier and the one-million-strong crowd in central Mexico City.
