England, all thanks to Harry Kane’s goals in the last 15 minutes, were lucky to go past DR Congo 2-1 to reach the pre-quarters of FIFA World Cup 2026 on Wednesday but a real challenge now awaits them in Mexico, one of three co-hosts of the tournament.
The North American team has won all four of its matches so far and is fully enjoying its home support. It won’t be wrong to say they are now a major force to reckon with in the event. England, on the other hand, have been good but not exactly very good. They drew with Ghana 0-0 earlier, and on Wednesday, they were almost stunned by DR Congo.
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And to make matters worse, they will now have to travel to Mexico City’s iconic Azteca Stadium to play their Round of 16 game. The stadium is above 7,200ft above sea level, which means England players can potentially face health and fitness issues since at such an altitude, the air is thinner and less oxygen goes into the bloodstream. It would have been a problem even if England had won all their previous games in style. Often, athletes going higher up are advised not to do anything for quite a few days and adapt — up to 10 days sometimes — before they can get into strenuous training.
Thomas Tuchel’s team has so far played their matches in the USA, and for the first time, they will have to travel across the border into Mexico against an in-form local team and a high altitude to deal with in just four days’ time. The match is scheduled to be held on Monday morning (India time). The head coach can’t be blamed for raising concerns beforehand.
Mexico have a huge advantage!
“The altitude will be a big disadvantage because we cannot physically adapt to it. It just takes too much time. We have only three days between these matches. It’s physically just not possible to adapt to the altitude,” he said.
“That is just a huge advantage that Mexico will have. More obstacles may come, but we are ready for that. This is just something with which we will have to deal. And I think we showed the attitude that we are ready for that,” he added.
Tuchel also clarified that his team wasn’t under any pressure, having not won the trophy since 1966. “I did not see any of that. It would be so easy to give in and to accept that narrative. I didn’t see any of that, and that is a very, very good sign,” he said.
