Mexico-England tie may be brought forward due to weather

FIFA is in discussions to move England's World Cup last-16 clash with Mexico to an earlier kick-off time due to the risk of weather disruption.

Thomas Tuchel’s men take on the co-hosts in a mouth-watering clash at the Estadio Azteca on Sunday, with kick-off currently scheduled for 6pm local time (1am Monday in the UK).

But talks are under way with relevant stakeholders about moving the game forward due to possible adverse weather conditions in Mexico City, with a new time of 12pm local (7pm Sunday Irish time) being widely reported.

The Football Association has yet to receive confirmation, despite the fact that kick-off time would be less than 48 hours away. FIFA have been approached for comment.

Under safety rules, games face an automatic 30-minute delay if lightning strikes within eight miles of the stadium, with the clock resetting each time there is a new strike.

FIFA’s World Cup regulations say the governing body has "the right to cancel, reschedule or relocate one or more matches…for any reason at its sole discretion, including as a result of force majeure or due to health, safety or security concerns".

England playmaker Morgan Rogers said of the potential change: "It’s just another obstacle to overcome. We’ll be ready regardless of the time.

"Earlier the better because you want to play. There is enough thinking about what is going to happen and the build-up – you just want to play the game.

"Getting that adrenaline out there will help us and get us going and playing. We’re looking forward to it whatever the time is.

"I’m not concerned about it, but won’t be happy if it wakes me up, I’ll be honest. We’ll deal with it as best as possible. It’s another obstacle to get over."

England team-mate Marcus Rashford also downplayed the impact of a potential kick-off change.

"I think for us it’s the same, how we prepare for the game," the forward said. "It has to be the same, we have to be focused, we have to be ready for anything.

"I think it’s one strength of the group, everyone included, the players, the staff, we’re ready for whatever challenges get thrown at us. Obviously it’s not ideal, but also it doesn’t matter."

The prospect of the fixture time moving shocked former England right-back and coach Gary Neville.

"For our players it's worse, it’s a sporting disadvantage to England," he said on ITV. "There’s a sporting integrity issue here as well because I’ve never seen a League Two game moved, I’ve never seen a Sunday League game moved.

"FIFA are just willy nilly making it up and moving a game. It just feels a little bit sort of strange.

"Ultimately you can put fan safety at the heart of it. This is a stadium that has these sorts of conditions before where they would have a procedure in place to deal with that"

A kick-off alteration would only add to what England boss Tuchel knew would be "a lot, a lot, a lot of obstacles" awaiting them in Mexico.

An intimidating atmosphere awaits at the Azteca, while the visitors are braced for hostility outside the team hotel.

But altitude could be the biggest challenge, with the match taking place more than 2,000 metres above sea level.

Tuchel said: "My understanding is that we cannot adapt to the altitude.

"That is just a huge advantage that Mexico will have. It just takes too much time.

"We have only three days in between (the last-32 win over DR Congo and the Mexico game). This is physically just not possible to adapt to the altitude, which is quite high.

"We knew that before, so this is just something, it’s just a disadvantage, with which we will have to deal. I think we showed the attitude that we are ready for that and from there we go."