World Cup round-up: England Mexico kick-off chaos, enormous mistake and Messi and Salah class
The ridiculous farce around what time England will play Mexico in the World Cup rumbled on overnight as Three Lions stars were booed when they landed in Mexico City.
The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) has confirmed the match will still start at 1am BST, despite rumours FIFA intended to bring forward the Round of 16 tie by six hours. Discussions were held between football’s governing body, the Football Association and the FMF with a new midday local time (7pm BST) kick-off suggested.
But now the game will continue as planned. Here’s everything you need to know about what unfolded in the World Cup overnight amid the England versus Mexico kick-off time mayhem in our daily morning round-up.
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England kick off farce and boos
England touched down in Mexico to a chorus of jeers and hostile chants from the co-host nation’s supporters.
While not quite matching the intimidating atmosphere they’ll encounter at the legendary Estadio Azteca, it was certainly an unwelcoming reception ahead of their last-16 clash.
The BBC have refuted claims they were party to any discussions regarding altering England and Mexico’s kick-off time. A spokesperson for the broadcaster confirmed they were ‘not involved in these discussions’ following reports from Mexico suggesting otherwise.
FIFA convened an emergency meeting about bringing the encounter forward by six hours to a revised time of 12pm in Mexico (7pm BST).
Both England and Mexico opposed the suggested change, with FIFA subsequently reversing their potential strategy, reports the Mirror.
Despite thunderstorms being forecast, The Athletic has reported FIFA’s discussions about shifting the kick-off time focused on supporter safety, with fans more likely to engage in pre-match drinking and post-game celebrations if the fixture were staged in the evening.
Messi shows his class
Paraguay’s shock victory over Germany was almost eclipsed by Cape Verde in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The Western Africa islanders went toe-to-toe with one of the true giants of world football and didn’t give an inch. They even forced Argentina into extra-time thanks to two magnificent strikes before a cruel own goal knocked them out.
Lionel Messi scored his seventh goal in the tournament but Deroy Duarte equalised for Cape Verde. Lisandro Martinez then fired Argentina into an extra-time lead, before Sidny Lopes Cabral’s incredible strike made it 2-2.
Diney Borges’ own goal secured safe passage for Argentina. Messi played a pivotal role in two of his team’s goals and was extremely gracious towards Cape Verde both during and after the match.
After one of his interviews, the football legend was delighted to take photographs with several players from the national side that had pushed Argentina to their absolute limits.
He told Tyc Sports: “They asked for my jersey, everything… On the field, they kick the crap out of me, ha.” That observation was certainly validated with Messi being fouled five times during the encounter.
Egyptian King
Argentina learned they would be up against Egypt, with Mohamed Salah netting in the Pharoahs’ 4-2 penalty shoot-out triumph against Australia.
Emam Ashour scored the opener for Egypt against the run of play at the Dallas Stadium, when he converted Karim Hafez’s cross after 13 minutes.
It was Egypt’s first knockout match since 1934. And they have now scored more goals at this tournament (six) than they managed altogether in their previous showings in 1934, 1990 and 2018.
Neither them nor Australia had ever won a game at this stage, with the Aussies levelling in the second half through Mohamed Hany’s own goal. Their manager Tony Popovic then took a huge gamble that turned out to be a huge mistake.
He substituted goalkeeper Patrick Beach who was in fine form and replaced him with veteran Matt Ryan for the shootout. But the former Brighton keeper failed to save a single penalty.
Salah calmly slotted home a Panenka before defender Hossam Abdelmaguid scored the decisive spot-kick for the Pharaohs, after Australia defenders Harry Souttar – who skied his team’s first penalty – and a nervous 18-year-old Lucas Herrington missed their efforts.
When the decisive penalty was slotted home, Liverpool legend Salah revealed his sportsmanship by shaking hands with Australian players prior to joining in the celebrations.
Colombia march on
Colombia beat Ghana in a convincing win to set up a Round of 16 clash with Switzerland.
Jhon Arias netted the game’s only goal after 14 minutes, as Colombia created multiple chances but had to settle for a 1-0 victory against a poor Ghana side who failed to register a shot on target.
Playing in the heat of sweltering Kansas City, with temperatures above 30C until well after 10pm, Nestor Lorenzo’s side booked a date with the Swiss in Vancouver on Tuesday.
And there is the mouth-watering prospect of a quarter-final meeting with Argentina should they both progress.
