World Cup 2026: England cautious not to suffer from deep fans in Mexico

Ahead of the World Cup in 2026, England have taken precautions to ensure players' rest is not disturbed by noisy fans in Mexico. The Tomas Dugel-led side will face Mexico next Sunday (Monday 01:00 BST). The team arrives in Mexico City on Friday, so they stay in the capital for two days before the match.

Ecuador reported to FIFA that their team could not sleep because of noisy Mexico supporters during Mexico's last round of 32 match. The Ecuadorian team suffered as Mexican supporters chanted loudly, used banjos and motorcycles near the team hotel. England prefer to keep their location a secret, but fear that information will be leaked on social media. Consequently, UK soldiers and personnel will be provided with natural sleeping pills or white noise audio machines if they do not bring their own sleep-inducing devices (earplugs or sleeping pads).

Arriving two days earlier is a change, as England normally travel a day before the match. But FIFA mandates that teams hold a semi-open training session a day before the match. England used to train in Kansas for this, but now they have decided to train in Mexico.

England face the other challenge of having to play in Mexico's top-level depth. Mexico City, at an average altitude of 2,240 meters, has less oxygen in the air. This may affect the performance of some players, especially if they are not used to this position. Because of this, Mexico has played three matches in the World Cup so far.

"Depth is going to be a big distraction because we can't disrupt the body," Dugel said. "We cannot destabilize the body to this depth, which will be a great weakness for Mexico. It takes more time to destabilize the body. We only have three days. It is impossible to destabilize the body. We have the determination to face this situation."

---

Related Articles

1. Mundial 2026

2. Piero Hincapie Sent Off in Ecuador's 2-0 Loss to Mexico