The round of 16 matchup of the World Cup in Mexico against England, scheduled for Sunday, July 5, has once again taken center stage.
After the Mexican government sought an earlier start amid the scorching heat forecast from the afternoon of Sunday, July 5 until noon, closed-door talks collapsed.
The talks took place on Friday, July 3, between FIFA and the two national federations of the participating teams.
According to the latest media reports, the start time of the round of 16 match Mexico vs. England remains unchanged as originally scheduled for 6 pm local time in Mexico City.
What led to the decision to keep the start time unchanged was opposition from the Mexican Football Federation and the English Football Federation, leading FIFA to reject calls for a change.
A report appeared on ESPN highlighting that FIFA wanted to avoid a repeat of Mexico’s clash with Ecuador at the same venue in the round of 32, when the kick-off time was extended to an hour due to stormy weather.
Following the decision, Mexico coach Javier Aguirre spoke out against the proposed schedule change.
“It’s a kick in the stomach, now everything has to be changed. It’s not that all the work is going down the drain – although it’s close – because six hours of scheduled planning have to be thrown away. I don’t like it at all,” Aguirre told Radio Formula.
He added: “Obviously, we will comply with what FIFA says, but neither my players nor I are happy with that.”
