World Cup 2026: England v Mexico – Five and a half hours that left tie in chaos

Dr. Barney Wainwright, senior research fellow at Leeds Beckett University, told BBC Sport earlier this week how altitude can affect athletes.

“Maximum aerobic capacity at this kind of altitude usually drops around 10%,” Wainwright said. “And that has a knock-on to performance.”

But would kicking off at 12:00 local time rather than 18:00 have made any difference?

“If it is warmer, the heat can have a double whammy effect with altitude,” Wainwright explained.

“When there’s less oxygen in the air, that means there’s less in the blood. That affects your ability to produce energy for the muscles and your exercise capacity.

“It also takes away from the brain. And the brain is important for us because we need oxygen in the brain for decision making, visual processing, those kind of things, which is important in football.”

Wainwright added that while the forecast might be for 21C, you can add a few degrees on to account for the supporters and the temperature at pitch level.

But this might not be significant enough to make any real difference to the players.

“That would make it a bit more difficult,” Wainwright said. “But overall, from an altitude perspective, it won’t make any real difference to them.”

The earlier kick-off could have affected the players’ rest patterns, though.

Altitude can affect sleep patterns, and an early kick-off would have meant no chance to catch up.

But, Wainwright added, the prospect of stoppages for thunderstorms in the evening could be advantageous for England, giving them chance to take a break from the effects of the altitude.