England captain Harry Kane has said he hopes fans will do a “all-nighters” to watch their game against Mexico in the early hours of Monday morning.
Speaking on Saturday, Kane said: “We know how much the World Cup means to everyone and all the fans at home, so I’m hoping there will be a few all-nighters to be honest, just going all the way through and celebrating until the next day and then catch up on some sleep after that.”
Devoted fans at home were given brief hope of being able to watch the game at a more sociable hour as Fifa were in discussions to move the kick-off forward to 1900BST (1200 local time) because of the threat of electrical storms.
ITV News understands Fifa had been involved in ongoing discussions over moving the kick-off time of Mexico v England to earlier in the day on Sunday due to the risk of weather disruption, including flooding.
But no official decision was made.
Local forecasts suggest there could be thunderstorms and heavy rain around the time the game is originally scheduled to take place.
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”.
Mexico’s match against Ecuador earlier this week was delayed due to rain.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer extended the weekend when he announced that pubs can stay open until 5am earlier this week, which Kane said was “good news.”
Some police forces have reacted negatively to the news, saying the announcement came too late for them to plan appropriately.
Speaking to the media about the potential change at England’s training session on Friday, winger Marcus Rashford downplayed the impact of the move.
“I think for us it’s the same, how we prepare for the game,” Rashford 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.”
Former England right-back and coach Gary Neville spoke of his shock at the prospect of the fixture time moving.
“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.
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