World Cup 2026: England's last-16 tie vs Mexico saved from six-hour kick-off shift – but lightning still a threat

The England camp was caught completely off guard on Friday when Mexican journalists started asking Morgan Rogers and Marcus Rashford how they felt about a potential six-hour delay to their World Cup last-16 clash with Mexico. That moment, at 1pm local time on the sidelines of England's training session in Kansas City, sparked frantic phone calls and meetings. It quickly emerged that the drastic proposal to move the kick-off time forward had been floated by the local organising committee in Mexico City – a direct response to the tragedy that unfolded after the round-of-32 match against Ecuador on Tuesday, where four people died from asphyxiation in the crush of an estimated one million fans near the Angel of Independence monument. From the outset, both the English and Mexican FAs were reluctant to shift the game by six hours. Conspiracy theories claiming the Mexican FA wanted to inconvenience England were dismissed as fantastical. But both federations knew they had to follow any safety guidance. For several hours, official information was scarce, leaving a vacuum filled with rumours, mostly from Mexico. The ultimate call rested with FIFA, based at the International Broadcast Centre in Dallas. Specialist weather reports – far more detailed than standard forecasts – were studied. They initially predicted a very high risk of dangerous lightning for roughly three hours before the match, during the game, and for one to two hours after the final whistle. The post-game danger was the biggest worry: how to safely evacuate 85,000 people from the Azteca Stadium with lightning in the air and potentially flooded roads. The risk of another crush was significant. But then the models shifted. The latest analysis indicated the storm would hit the Azteca area earlier – in the four hours leading up to kick-off – but not during the match or afterwards. That change convinced FIFA and local officials that moving the game forward would actually make things worse. The original kick-off time stands. However, meetings will continue at the Azteca right up until Sunday's kick-off. The weather reports still show a strong likelihood of lightning between 2pm and 6pm local time (9pm to 1am UK time). Under FIFA safety protocols, if lightning is detected within a six-mile radius, no one can enter the stadium, and the game cannot start or restart until there is a 30-minute lightning-free window. A delay remains very possible.