Mexico Fans Disrupt England's Sleep Before World Cup Clash

MEXICO CITY — The streets around the JW Marriott in Santa Fe didn’t sleep. That was the whole point.

Dozens of Mexico fans pushed past police blockades and into earshot of England’s team hotel late on Saturday night, armed with loudspeakers, air horns and fireworks, determined to turn the build-up to Sunday’s World Cup round-of-16 clash into a restless vigil for the visitors.

The target was simple: England’s sleep.

The scene in the western reaches of Mexico City was part carnival, part siege. Bursts of fireworks cracked the sky, horns blared in waves, and music pounded up toward the hotel windows as the night dragged into the early hours. Police ringed the area, but the noise still poured through.

This wasn’t improvisation. It was a plan Mexico fans had already tested.

Earlier in the week, “El Tri” supporters used the same late-night tactics before a decisive group-stage match against Ecuador. That night ended with a 2–0 Mexico win and a furious response from the Ecuadorian football federation, which lodged a formal complaint with tournament organizers over the disturbance.

The message from Mexican fans: if it worked once, why stop?

England manager Thomas Tuchel saw it coming. He spoke on Saturday with the air of a coach who has already factored chaos into his preparations.

“We have a 6 p.m. (Sunday) kickoff, so if we miss some hours of sleep, we’ll make them up in the late morning,” Tuchel said, brushing off the threat with a shrug.

His players, though, will discover on matchday whether that confidence holds after a night punctured by explosions and chants from the street.

In Latin American football, these so-called hotel “serenades” are an old, stubborn tradition. They began as raw, noisy declarations of love for the home side, fans gathering beneath balconies to sing their team into battle. Over time, the romance hardened into something more ruthless.

Now they function as a psychological weapon.

The idea is blunt: deny the opposition rest, chip away at their composure, make the game start long before the first whistle. For some, it is part of the fabric of football in this part of the world. For others, it crosses the line into gamesmanship that belongs nowhere near a World Cup.

As England try to sleep behind thick curtains and double glazing, Mexico’s supporters are already playing their part. On the pitch, the contest starts on Sunday evening.

Outside the hotel, it started long before dawn.