England manager Thomas Tuchel has admitted feeling the impact of altitude in Mexico City ahead of his side’s last-16 clash with World Cup co-hosts Mexico.
Much has been made in the build-up about the debilitating physical effects playing more than 7,000ft above sea level will have on the England players.
That, coupled with Mexico‘s formidable record at the iconic Azteca Stadium, points to this being a far from comfortable occasion for the Three Lions as they look to reach the World Cup quarter-finals.
Tuchel and his players arrived in the Mexican capital on Saturday, and when asked about their experience so far, the England boss said: “I felt, for example, a slight headache in the hotel room through the day, I didn’t sleep as well as the days before but nothing that you cannot handle and you cannot adapt.
“I think the players felt it in the first minutes of the training session and the longer it went they could cope with it better.
“It’s just what it is. We cannot physically adapt. It’s just impossible. But we are here one day before to experience it at least, to not have all the first-time experience in the warm-up [for the match].
“So we will have the warm-up, especially with [focus on] the flight of the ball, with a bit of shortness of breath.”
Tuchel is yet to lose a competitive fixture as England head coach, but he knows that record will count for very little when his side come up against a host nation in scintillating form themselves.
Mexico have won all four of their matches so far this summer and are yet to concede a goal, and Tuchel claims it is not surprising, given the altitude, that they often come flying out the blocks when playing at home.
Tuchel said: “I think it’s not a coincidence that Mexico start their matches normally on home turf very, very strong, very front-footed, very aggressively because I think the first 15-20 minutes will be maybe the toughest for us.
“Once we overcome that I think we are in a good place.”
Where to watch Mexico v England: TV and online streams
Mexico versus England kicks off at 1am in the early hours of Sunday morning. You can watch it on BBC One or stream via the BBC iPlayer.
Stats for Mexico v England
- This is England’s first game at the Azteca since the 1986 World Cup quarter-final defeat to Argentina, inspired by Diego Maradona’s handball
- Mexico’s win over Ecuador was their first in a knockout round game since 1986
- Mexico have never lost a World Cup game at the Azteca, winning eight and drawing two of 10 games
- England have won the teams’ last four meetings
