Monday 6th July 1 am (BST) CLUB IS OPEN!
England travel to Mexico City to face Mexico on what is absolutely Mexico’s home pitch, the Azteca Stadium, kicking off in Mexican time at 6pm Sunday which is an awkward 1am Monday in the UK.
The Club will be staying open for the match for Members and their signed-in guests only and food will be available.
To date in the 2026 World Cup England has played in games where their opposition, like them, has had no home field advantage, both sides having to work out how the pitch plays while the match unfolds.
Down in Mexico it will be very different. Mexico literally know it all at their home field and England literally know nothing other than two things – there’s a ghostly “hand of God” lingering here in a collective memory from 40 years ago and Mexico have a current unbeaten streak there of 22 games.
But while “Unbeaten for 22 games” is a formidable claim it could be as misleading as “Seven in One Blow” from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale “The Brave Little Tailor”. Like Grimm’s tailor what matters is not what Mexico have done but the quality of opponents they did it to. Luke Power, Sports Reporter at the Daily Mail, looks past this headline to the detail and shows how Mexico has really been swatting flies for 22 games, an opposition which England certainly is not.
Mexico City sits 7,350 feet above sea level – that is Ben Nevis (UK’s highest mountain) with Cross Fell (the highest peak outside the Lake District) stacked on top. It also has air with 25% less oxygen than that which hangs around Wembley, something which cannot simply be ignored so has to be managed.
Sunday’s projected weather is around 18 to 20C with high humidity (70%), calm winds and a threat of intermittent heavy rain. There’s not much cause to close the Azteca’s retractable roof throughout the year because day time highs only vary between 21C and 26C and night time lows are 6C to 12C. When it does close it’s in the winter to turn on the infrared heaters to keep everyone cosy rather than in the summer to keep everyone cool or dry.
England has inspiration and momentum from their full time-not-extra-time win over DR Congo; knowledge that they can win on unfamiliar pitches and understanding they’ve grit for tough times which all together puts psychological pressure on Mexico before any ball has been kicked.
At 1am on Monday 6th July, Mexico will be faced with slaying English lions while England have to see their task as lions swatting flies.
Come on England!