Lineups
England (4-2-3-1): Pickford; O’Reilly, Guéhi, Konsa, Quansah; Rice, Anderson; Gordon, Bellingham, Saka; Kane
Subs: D. Henderson, Trafford, Stones, Spence, James, Burn, Chabolah, Madueke, Rashford, Rogers, J. Henderson, Mainoo, Eze, Watkins, Toney
Mexico (4-3-3): Rangel; Gallardo, Montes, Vásquez, Sánchez; Romo, Lira, Mora; Quiñones, Jiménez, Alvarado
Subs: Acevedo, Ochoa, Alvarez, Reyes, M. Chávez, Fidalgo, Pineda, Vargas, L. Chávez, Gutiérrez, Vega, Giménez, González, Huerta, Martínez
For England, Quansah is once again available (see below) and replaces Spence. The others changes from the starting XI against DR Congo are on the wings – Gordon for Rashford on the left, Saka for Madueke on the right.
Mexico make no changes from the side that beat Ecuador 2-0.
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England have now arrived at the stadium! Boos ring out inside this extraordinary bowl as Tuchel, Kane & Co are pictured on the big screen getting off the team bus.
Mexico are here now. Their team bus arrives to plumes of green smoke. Excitement is rising fast!
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Head to head
Mexico won their first matchup against England. If you were alive to see it, I’d love to hear from you. It was in 1959.
England took emphatic revenge two years later with an 8-0 win. Next up was a World Cup matchup in 1966, and England won 2-0 en route to its only World Cup championship.
Mexico got results in the next two infrequent matchups – 0-0 in 1969, 1-0 in 1985 (see previous post). Since then, England have won four straight, all by at least two goals.
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Preamble
There’s a scene from an old episode of Family Guy positing a Rocky film sometime in the future, in which Adrian pleads with Rocky once again not to put himself in harm’s way in the ring.
“Rocky, please don’t go to Mars and fight the Martian.”
“I gotta do what I gotta do.”
“But there’s no oxygen on Mars!”
“Yeah? That means there’s no oxygen for him, either.”
Insert England into the Rocky role here. They’re going into one of world football’s most legendary cauldrons, the Azteca - I mean, Mexico City Stadium.
Consider this: The highest point in England is Scafell Pike in Cumbria. The elevation is 978 meters, or 3,209 feet. It does not have a soccer field.
The Az- ... Mexico City Stadium is at 2,240 meters, or 7,350 feet.
Compounding the problem is the heat. Like the Bird’s Nest in Beijing, site of the first hydration break in a major soccer event (the 2008 Olympics, in which Argentina defeated Nigeria 1-0 on an Ángel Di María goal set up by some prospect named Lionel something), the stadium just traps heat.
In other words, this may be the only stadium in the world in which the best preparation is to read the instructions for baking in a convection oven at altitude.
The good news today is that it’s not particularly hot. The bad news is that thunderstorms and rain showers are blowing through. So instead of a convection oven, maybe it’s more of a soup bowl.
For those of a certain age, England visiting Mexico City isn’t a novelty. The world champions turned up in long sleeves to eke out a 0-0 draw in 1969. England returned in 1985 for losses to Italy and Mexico but then beat West Germany 3-1.
In 1986, England beat Paraguay in Mexico City but had a second game against the multiple limbs of Diego Maradona that didn’t go as well.
David Pleat shared his memories of that one.
Mexico aren’t invincible in their home stadium. The USA have had some success in the past 30 years, starting with a draw in 1998 World Cup qualification and continuing with a friendly win in 2012. The teams drew in their showdowns in the last three qualification cycles. They’ve also lost qualifiers to Costa Rica and Honduras.
More worryingly for England is that Mexico have simply been better at this World Cup. England drew with Ghana and labored past DR Congo. Mexico have won three of four games by two or more goals.
Still, on paper, England have the more talented side. If you look at estimated transfer values at Fotmob, 21 players on England’s side are valued higher than the top player in the Mexican squad.
But this World Cup has been tossing aside talented teams like red cards to US players. (Too soon?)
Basically, you can make a strong case for either team to lose here. But one of them won’t. And that team won’t be facing Brazil, though you could argue that facing Haaland is worse.
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Norway to play winners of Mexico v England
They’ve done it! Two Erling Haaland goals have put Norway into the quarter-finals for the first time. Neymar’s late penalty too little too late.
And with that I’ll hand you over to Beau Dure for the main event.
Arrival of teams put on hold
It has just been announced that the arrival of the teams at the stadium has been put on hold. So, maybe we won’t be fine ....
And another! Norway are heading through. There’s gonna be a lot of rowing routines on the floors of New York bars tonight.
And there’s been a goal in New Jersey, and you’ll never guess who got it:
Rain easing off in Mexico
3.38pm local time/10.38 BST, 5.38pm ET: The rain has massively eased off. Still a bit of thunder to be heard. But feels like we should be OK. (Please read usual disclaimer).
Today’s other big World Cup story: you know how we were all saying how Donald Trump had been mercifully invisible at this tournament …
At the moment there are no suggestions the kick-off will be delayed, although play cannot begin until 30 minutes has passed since lightning was detected within an eight-mile radius.
“Perhaps the Carpenters had it right when they wrote Rainy Days and Mondays,” writes Samuel Dodson, “given the scheduled start time of this match is supposed to be the way those of us in the UK kick off the working week – but all this talk of thunder and lightning is, to quote Queen, very very frightening. What are the chances this storm pulls a Barbra Streisand and rains on our parades and postpones the match?
“And if it is postponed, what advice do you have for those brave enough to venture to the pub in the early hours who may be faced twiddling their thumbs – other than, of course, brainstorming inevitable weather-based football pun headlines? (Although here’s hoping a Hurri-kane force blows this Mexico team away).”
Pubs can technically only stay open till 5am BST, so a delayed kick-off could mean they’re turfing out well lubricated punters just as extra-time’s about to start.
Queiroz quits as Ghana head coach. Bad news for bus-parking fans, with Carlos Queiroz announcing on Sunday he was leaving his job as Ghana coach after they were eliminated from the World Cup at the last-32 stage, AFP reports.
The much-travelled Quieroz, who coached Iran at the last World Cup in Qatar, said: “I leave this journey with pride in what we achieved, but also with the healthy dissatisfaction of those who always wanted more.”
Queiroz urged Ghana to push forward in the future, saying: “The future of the Black Stars will not be built only on the pitch.”
The former Real Madrid coach and Manchester United assistant coach added: “Reaching a higher level should never be the destination – it should be the beginning of even greater ambitions.
“Black Stars success must start off the field, by creating the best possible environment to prepare, protect and develop Ghana’s extraordinary football talent.”
Quieroz was only appointed in April when Otto Addo was dismissed.
In other parts of the World Cup-verse … chances, including a penalty, are being missed, and no goals have been scored. Tom Lutz is at the helm for Brazil v Norway.
England team latest
Jarell Quansah is expected to start for England at right-back after recovering from a twisted ankle. Djed Spence has a sore calf and is not ready to start, but should be in the squad. Reece James has missed the last two games with a hamstring issue.
Right-back is the big problem position for Thomas Tuchel although he has issues in other areas. Who to play on the wings? None of the wide players have convinced. This time it’s expected to be Bukayo Saka and Anthony Gordon who get the nod.
Stormy preamble
Evening/afternoon/morning all. This is it. The biggie for England (so far). And I must I’m afraid greet you with reports of thunderstorms in the Mexico City area. Our man on the spot, David Hytner, files this:
The first incredibly loud claps of thunder were heard here at the Azteca at 240pm local time – so a little over three hours before the scheduled kick-off time of 6pm. And it is now absolutely hosing it down with rain. This was very much forecast; hence, the farcical too and froing on Friday afternoon about bringing forward the kick-off by six hours, which ultimately proved impossible. Journalists and photographers have just been told to stay indoors at the stadium media centre. Maybe it is good that the storm has started slightly earlier than advertised giving it more time to clear before 6pm. Then again, I really do not know whether this is true!
