Have to beat the best to win it (And I’ve always felt that if we are to win a tournament it will be after a very hard passage). And I think it might be the second match of that day so 5pm or later local time. So slightly cooler.
I’m not too sure why everyone is so fearful of Mexico. I’m more fearful of Ghana and Croatia to be honest plus I’m not entirely convinced Mexico will end up doing as well as people think they will. If we were to end up playing Mexico, sure the heat is a concern but our players are used to playing in front of hostile fans.
It might not even be Mexico. Denmark could top that group if they make it. Brazil equally might crash into France in the R16 if France don’t win their fairly tough group. And Brazil losing to Senegal or Norway is not entirely out there.
We got drawn with Poland for five successive qualifying campaigns. 1990 World Cup qualifiers 1992 Euro qualifiers 1994 World Cup qualifiers 1998 World Cup qualifiers 2000 Euro qualifiers
Exactly, so many things can happen before we even think about playing Mexico, hell I wouldn’t put it past us to even finish second in the group if things don’t go to plan.
In 2017 I was in the Septics away end for their qualifying game there (I won a trip) Absolutely brilliant experience. Apart from the cups of pee that were thrown after the septics scored in 5 minutes. If we played them in the last 16. Well. I would love to be there. Mexico City is also a great place to visit
We have had actually played Mexico before in the Azteca - in 1969! A 0-0 draw. At midday local time. Reports at the time suggested we struggled with the altitude.
Also I like what Tuchel says here. https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...-cringe-confusion-and-drama-of-world-cup-draw
For once he has avoided any unintentional comments that cause issues. How many groups through would have actually been suitable for a Kansas City camp?
Mexico city average temperature in July is pretty similar to London, the heat won't be an issue. It is at 2000m of altitude which could be a problem however. Home advantage could be a further advantage for Mexico (let's be honest South Korea could win that group though, Mexico really aren't that great). Brazil I'm not fussed about, they are one of the weaker pot one teams IMO. If we want to win then we have to beat them. We had luck with draws in 2018 and 2021 IMO so we can't complain. Plus Argentina/Portugal if goes to plan are on our side for the semis, so all in all you can't complain with that
It'd possibly be the altitude that'd be the concern in the Azteca. 7000+ feet is no joke and it seems to be exacerbated by the awful air quality in Mexico City. Just reading what players who've played there have said and looking at some reaction in Mexico, players can be dead on their feet after 20 minutes and unable to breathe. Just googled it for 5 minutes and that was enough to scare me! Not sure if there'd be time to have a specific acclimatisation strategy for that one game? Even the NFL players who played there recently were shocked. 1997061919791108546 is not a valid tweet id If we get through that, hopefully any QF in Miami would be an 11pm KO here, at least. I was really hoping to avoid a knockout tie in one of those 3-4 open-air hotspots
As I'm going out for the group games I'm quite happy with the draw. We should qualify but there should be some competition, even though with the third place team qualifying there isn't a lot of jeopardy.
There's also a certain ghost to exorcise as well. 1986... World Cup QF... The Azteca Stadium... The Hand of God. That took place at noon, in 90+ degree heat, and you've only got listen to the memories of those who played to understand just how gruelling the conditions were. Quite how FIFA expect teams to acclimatise to the altitude change in just a matter of days beats me.
The second semi-finalists are going to be at even more of a disadvantge than usual in this tournament.
I’m not sure if they announcing the knockout times today or not or waiting till during the tournament. A Brazil QF in Miami would be a Saturday so FIFA hopefully won’t be foo hesitant to have it a bit later at night Europe time
While I appreciate that in a tournament held across North America there's going to be some travel distance, some of the venues used in the same group are flat out ridiculous. Just looking at ours, Dallas to Boston is pathetic for the fans. And that's without factoring in the environmental impact of the amount of travel that could have been avoided with better scheduling. All groups (at any competition) should involve two grounds that are relatively close to each other by the standards of the overall size of the country/countries involved.
Match 80 (Round of 32: Winner of Group L vs. third-placed team from Groups E/H/I/J/K) kicks off on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. ET at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.Match 92 Match 92 (Round of 16: Winner of Match 79 vs. Winner of Match 80) kicks off on Sunday, July 5, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. ET at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.Match 99 Match 99 (Quarter-final: Winner of Match 91 vs. Winner of Match 92) kicks off on Saturday, July 11, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens (Miami).