Weather forecaster John Kettley has warned of a 90% chance of a severe storm in Mexico City during England’s World Cup -16 clash against Mexico as pitch access is currently banned at the venue
Pitch access has been banned at the Azteca Stadium due to a thunderstorm currently breaking out at the venue ahead of the England v Mexico game later tonight.
Due to electrical storm protocol no one is permitted access to the pitch for health and safety reasons. The protocol is set to remain until weather conditions improve. The stadium has issued a shelter-in-place order. Currently the game is still scheduled to kick-off at 1am on Monday morning.
The development comes after a weather expert issued a warning about a possible “killer storm” that could impact tonight’s World Cup fixture in Mexico City, describing it as “bizarre” that the England vs Mexico match hasn’t been rescheduled earlier owing to meteorological conditions.
Forecaster John Kettley was questioned about whether the weather would disrupt the last-16 encounter, and his response wasn’t encouraging.
There had been uncertainty regarding a potential shift in kick-off time to 6pm BST, originally planned for 1am BST on Monday, July 6 (6pm local time Sunday). FIFA subsequently confirmed that Mexico vs England would proceed at the original kick-off time.
Speaking to GB News presenter Dawn Neesom, John said: “It is a very bizarre situation, really, because they often play the matches at midday for obvious reasons. The storms tend to gather as the afternoon heat develops. A typical temperature in Mexico City would be about 24 to 25 degrees, and that is certainly high enough to trigger these thunderstorms, which we are expecting.
“It is a 90 per cent chance of a storm at some point during the day. But if they start the game at our time, say 6pm, that would have negated most of the problems. Yesterday, there were no storms around that time. And if they caught a storm after the game, and perhaps the situation would have been not so serious.
“But there is a very high risk of a storm, we know that, and these are killer storms. You can’t belittle these storms in Central America. They are pretty violent affairs, and they can go on for an hour or two; they self-perpetuate. They are 7,200 ft above sea level, and it’s very humid there, so they are proper storm, not the little ones we get sometimes in this country,” reports the Express.
Beyond the weather conditions, the England football squad must also adjust to the elevation. England boss Thomas Tuchel discussed on Saturday how his players have responded to the altitude in Mexico City: “We feel it even if we don’t train. I felt, for example, a slight headache in the hotel room throughout the day. I didn’t sleep as well as the days before. But nothing you can’t handle and you can’t adapt to.
“The players felt it in the first minutes of the training session. And the longer it went on, the better they could cope with it. It’s just what it is. We cannot physically adapt, it’s just impossible. But we are here one day before to experience it, at least.”
Should England triumph over Mexico, and subsequently secure victory in their quarter-final clash against Brazil or Norway, they will face one of the remaining four sides in the semi-final on Wednesday, 15 July, at 20:00 BST in Atlanta.
Should England progress to the final, they will meet the victor from the other group on Sunday, 19 July, at 20:00 BST in New Jersey.