England vs Mexico World Cup Clash: Late Kick-off Confirmed
England’s World Cup last-16 clash with Mexico will go ahead under the Mexico City lights at the original time, after Fifa scrapped plans for an earlier kick-off.
The game, set for 18:00 local time on Sunday – 01:00 BST on Monday – had been the subject of discussions about bringing it forward, but world football’s governing body has now confirmed there will be no change. Fans planning late-night screenings across England can lock in their arrangements. So can the police.
Late kick-off, late-night risks
With pubs, bars and fan zones gearing up for a long night, Devon and Cornwall Police have moved quickly to spell out a blunt message: enjoy it, but do not get behind the wheel if you have been drinking.
Supt Joe Matthews urged supporters to plan their journeys in advance, especially if they intend to drink alcohol while watching England’s knockout tie.
He was unequivocal about the dangers.
He warned that even a small amount of alcohol can impair driving, and dismissed the idea that people can safely “drink to the limit” by counting units. “There is no reliable way to drink and stay within the limit – because everyone is different you cannot work out a safe level by counting units,” he said.
The science, he stressed, does not bend for a big game.
Matthews underlined that only time removes alcohol from the body. Not sleep. Not coffee. Not a full English breakfast the morning after. And with the match finishing in the early hours in the UK, he pressed home another point: think very carefully before driving the next day, when alcohol may still be in your system.
‘You could save a life’
The force is running a specific World Cup policing operation, working with licensed premises across Devon and Cornwall, with England match days under particular scrutiny. Officers expect emotions to surge through the night as the stakes rise in Mexico City.
He called it a “certainty” that feelings would be “running high” during and after the game, and urged fans to channel that energy in the right way. “Make the evening one to be remembered for all the right reasons,” he said.
Matthews also appealed directly to bystanders. If anyone suspects a person is about to drive after drinking or taking drugs, he said they should call 999. That intervention, he added, “could save a life”.
The responsibility, in his view, does not end with personal choices. It extends to looking after those around you. “Keep an eye on your friends, and if it looks like they are getting a bit out of hand, just have a quiet word, step in, and walk them away,” he said.
As England chase a place in the quarter-finals in the heat and altitude of Mexico City, fans thousands of miles away face their own test in the small hours: how to celebrate the drama of knockout football without letting the night spill over into something far more costly.
