World Cup reporter in Mexico City shares an important update before Mexico vs England game
World Cup reporter Olivia Buzaglo shared an important update from Mexico City as there are worries the Mexico vs. England last 16 game might be delayed. On Friday evening, plans for the match got a bit messy. At first, FIFA thought about starting the game earlier, moving kickoff from 6pm local time to 12pm because thunderstorms were expected.
The weather forecast showed storms around 6pm, which is an hour before the original start. Lightning rules mean the game would have to pause for at least 30 minutes after each lightning strike. However, the FA wasn’t told about FIFA’s plan right away and were very concerned about changing the time, especially for fans traveling to the Estadio Azteca.
Mexico’s coach Javier Aguirre said he was “quite angry” about the idea and felt it hurt his team’s plans. Later, FIFA talked with both teams and decided to keep the 6pm kickoff. Official forecasts said there was an 80% chance of storms during the match, meaning players would have to head back to the dressing room if lightning happened.
So far, two World Cup games have been delayed because of lightning: France vs. Iraq and Mexico vs. Ecuador. Olivia Buzaglo, who is at the tournament, gave a fresh weather update that has people worried again. She wrote on Twitter, “It’s nearly 5pm here and the rain is really coming down. There’s no way the game kicks off at 6pm tomorrow.” She also added that she saw about 15 lightning bolts in just 30 minutes.
Even though storms were the main reason behind FIFA’s initial thought to move the kickoff, reports say fan safety was actually the biggest concern. FIFA started thinking about changing the time after four people sadly died during celebrations when Mexico won against Ecuador. That game even started an hour late because of lightning, and Mexico won 2-0.
More than 17,000 officers are expected to be at Estadio Azteca to help keep things safe this time. FIFA believes an earlier start might have helped avoid problems, but in the end, they decided to keep the original 6pm kickoff. Unless the weather causes delays, Mexico vs. England will start at 6pm local time (1am UK).