The Azteca, the Altitude and England’s Exhausting Underdog Complex

Last Updated on 5 July 2026

England face Mexico at the Azteca Stadium on Monday. 87,000 of the most passionate supporters in world football.

An elevation of 7,220 feet above sea level. A special venue where Mexico have lost twice in 89 competitive matches, and not at all in 13 years.

The occasion is extraordinary. It’s the World Cup. The challenge is genuine. And England, inevitably, have already started talking about it as though they are the plucky underdogs rather than one of the tournament favourites.

Tuchel’s honest assessment, and why the mentality still grates

Tuchel was direct after the DR Congo win, via Sky Sports: “Not to mention the altitude will be, of course, a big disadvantage, because we cannot physically adapt to it in four days. It’s just impossible and more obstacles will maybe come.”

He also noted that fireworks had been set off outside Ecuador’s hotel in Mexico City the night before their 2-0 defeat, and was candid enough to admit he did not know “if the travel will be smooth, if the sleep will be smooth, if there’s noise outside the hotel.”

These are real concerns. At 7,220 feet, the decreased oxygen intake can cause fatigue, nausea and shortness of breath, with FIFA research suggesting teams either acclimatise for 10 days or arrive on matchday to mitigate the effects: options England do not have.

Mexico have already played three games at the Azteca at this tournament and know every blade of grass, every gust of wind, every decibel of noise that stadium can produce. But here is the problem. England carry Kane, Bellingham, Saka, Foden and Rashford.

They are ranked in the world’s top ten. They are among the bookmakers’ quarter-final favourites. Yet the framing from their camp, pre-emptively cataloguing every disadvantage before a ball is kicked, has become a habit that a squad this talented no longer deserves.

England either believe they can win at the Azteca or they do not. Treating every obstacle as a reason to underachieve is not humility. It is a safety net. A squad of this calibre should be walking into Mexico City and demanding respect, not making excuses in advance.

Mexico can absolutely win this and that’s what makes it a blockbuster

None of which diminishes Mexico’s genuine threat. Their record at the Azteca in competitive fixtures is almost historically unmatched: two losses in 89 games, unbeaten for 13 years. The home support creates an atmosphere that has broken far more composed sides than England.

Kane himself acknowledged it: “Mexico in Mexico is as big as it gets in the World Cup. The atmosphere is going to be incredible and tough for many different reasons.” If Mexico win on Monday, it will not be an upset. It will be the natural consequence.

After all, Mexico have the advantage, a world-class squad playing on familiar ground, and an England team that spent four days moaning about the altitude instead of preparing to overcome it. Either way, the Azteca deserves better than a visiting side that has already half-accepted defeat. England are better than that. They just need to start acting like it.