England players were booed as they arrived at their Mexico City hotel ahead of Sunday’s World Cup last-16 clash with the co-hosts. The Three Lions have landed in Mexico, two days before taking on the intimidating Azteca atmosphere and altitude on Sunday evening.
Hostile Welcome at Hotel
According to reports, squad and staff members were jeered to chants of “Mexico, Mexico, Mexico” from guests at the hotel bars as they checked in, but shrugged off the taunts. Security has been stepped up at the hotel after Ecuador players were subjected to fireworks, loudspeakers, and horns the night before losing to Mexico in the previous round.
The Football Association had hoped to keep the location of their team hotel a secret, picking a different establishment to Ecuador. However, hundreds of rival fans were in attendance to greet Harry Kane, Thomas Tuchel, and the rest of the squad. A smattering of England fans were also part of the welcome party.
Heavy Police Presence
Over 300 police officers were on duty, many holding riot shields and others heavily armed. Mexico City mayor Clara Brugada had urged Mexican fans to behave “responsibly, carefully and with empathy.” One England fan told the Mirror: “It’s been pretty good spirited - they’ve been some boos but nothing nasty at all. Everyone was chatting together … it will be a different over the weekend.”
Altitude and Weather Concerns
England will hold an open training session at 3pm local time (11pm UK time), which will be the players’ first public experience of the high altitude. Mexico City sits around 2,200m above sea level, meaning less oxygen is available. Tuchel has already accepted that his players will not acclimatise. There were discussions to move the game forward by six hours amid the threat of thunderstorms, but a backlash from both the England and Mexican FAs will see the game start as originally scheduled, at 1am UK time into Monday morning. There remains a 90 per cent chance of lightning around Azteca Stadium at the time of kick-off.
