{"id":510511,"date":"2026-07-05T06:23:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T06:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/510511\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T06:23:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T06:23:11","slug":"here-to-write-our-own-chapters-england-not-daunted-by-unique-occasion-of-mexico-game-says-tuchel-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/510511\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Here to write our own chapters\u2019: England not daunted by unique occasion of Mexico game, says Tuchel | World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thomas Tuchel has admitted England are enduring a challenging adaptation in Mexico City but is convinced his team will be ready to \u201cwrite our own chapters\u201d when they face the World Cup co-hosts<\/a> at Estadio Azteca.<\/p>\n

The last-16 match against Mexico in their fabled home ground is the most eagerly anticipated of this summer and its logistics have presented unusual problems. England must adapt to playing 2,240 metres above sea level<\/a> at a venue where Mexico have not lost since 2013. They landed on Friday evening and found it difficult to hit their stride on Saturday afternoon in their final training session before the tie.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel it even if we don\u2019t train,\u201d Tuchel said. \u201cI felt, for example, a slight headache in the hotel through the day and didn\u2019t sleep as well as in the days before, but nothing you can\u2019t handle. I think the players felt it in the first minutes of the training session and the longer it went, they coped with it better. It\u2019s just what it is. We cannot physically adapt, it\u2019s just impossible, but we are here one day before to experience it at least, to not have the first experience in tomorrow\u2019s warm-up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuchel was nonetheless relaxed and upbeat, his confidence in England\u2019s ability to handle a unique occasion shining through. England have history here, not least the defeat to Argentina in 1986<\/a> that etched the Hand of God into a nation\u2019s psyche, but the incentive is huge to come out on the right side this time.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course it\u2019s painful and still hurts but we are not here for revenge, it doesn\u2019t make sense,\u201d Tuchel said. \u201cWe are here to write our own chapters, the team is ready, we are in good spirits.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of England\u2019s players apart from Reece James trained at the spectacular Club Universidad Nacional complex, which is hewn into cliff faces in the city\u2019s southern reaches and only accessible by tunnel. Tuchel floated the possibility of James, who has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury, being available for the bench but the chances are remote. Jarell Quansah, who sat out of the win over the Democratic Republic of the Congo<\/a> with an ankle problem, trained in full and is available to start at right-back.<\/p>\n

England players train at Universidad Nacional in Mexico City. Photograph: \u00c1lex Cruz\/EPA<\/p>\n

Another ripple in England\u2019s buildup was the bizarre uncertainty surrounding the Mexico game\u2019s kick-off time<\/a>. For a chunk of Friday afternoon it seemed likely to be moved forward six hours from its 6pm (1am BST) slot, ostensibly because of the heavy storms forecast for the hours around the game. Ultimately no decision was taken to make a change and Tuchel said the farce did not filter through to his team, who were flying to Mexico City for much of the to and fro.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was a bit of confusion but only for me and the officials,\u201d Tuchel said. England\u2019s staff are understood to have been stunned at the prospect of a change. \u201cI\u2019m not sure if the team was even aware. We kept it away from the players completely but as soon as we landed it was resolved. It was a good moment to be in the air for three and a half hours.<\/p>\n

Tuchel played down the hostile welcome England received at their hotel<\/a> from Mexico supporters on Friday night, calling their hosts \u201cvery respectful, very emotional and very supportive of our team\u201d. Added security measures have been put in place to ensure there is no repeat of the sleep disturbance Ecuador, Mexico\u2019s last-32 opponents, were subjected to on Monday. \u201cI don\u2019t want to talk about problems that don\u2019t exist, it doesn\u2019t feel right,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The England head coach was also asked by a local journalist to confirm wild suggestions that they had used Viagra as a means of mastering the altitude, drawing laughter from Tuchel and Jordan Henderson, who addressed the media with him. \u201cThe information didn\u2019t reach me, that is not true,\u201d Tuchel said.<\/p>\n

Even veteran forward Ra\u00fal Jim\u00e9nez is getting caught up in Mexico\u2019s euphoria. Photograph: Eduardo Verdugo\/AP<\/p>\n

Mexico blew Ecuador away<\/a> in the first half of their 2-0 win, and Tuchel said he expects another rapid start. \u201cI guess they will try and give us a taste of intensity and heat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will have answers to that, we need to have answers, and it\u2019s a key element of our team that we are able to find answers to any questions. I\u2019m full of trust that we\u2019ll do it tomorrow. It\u2019s just an iconic match on a big stage and we feel it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mexico manager Javier Aguirre admitted he may have to keep his players\u2019 feet on the ground before an occasion for which the buildup has reached fever pitch<\/a> across the country. Even his veteran centre-forward, Ra\u00fal Jim\u00e9nez, has referred to it as \u201cthe game of our lives\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe group is aware of where we are,\u201d Aguirre said. \u201cThe group knows, and every single one of my players has a smartphone and they\u2019re on fire, so they\u2019re pretty much aware of the euphoria and the optimism out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy obligation is that whenever they get too self-confident or whenever they get too ecstatic, I try to ground them.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 17,000 police officers will be deployed on Mexico City\u2019s streets for matchday. Huge public gatherings are expected and there are major concerns for safety after four people died<\/a> in celebrations following the Ecuador game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thomas Tuchel has admitted England are enduring a challenging adaptation in Mexico City but is convinced his team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":510512,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-510511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}