England will need sharp performances from players such as Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham plus measures including caffeine and beetroot juice to cope with the effects of high altitude at the Estadio Azteca, according to ESPN.
The Azteca sits around 7,220 feet above sea level, and England coach Thomas Tuchel called it an “impossible” obstacle and a “big disadvantage” for visiting teams, ESPN reported. England arrived in Mexico City on Friday, just 49 hours before the scheduled kickoff on Sunday, after group-stage matches in air-conditioned stadiums in Dallas and Atlanta and wet conditions in Boston and New Jersey, per ESPN.
High-performance expert Steve Magness, speaking to ESPN, said the body responds to elevations around 7,000 feet regardless of fitness level. He told ESPN that breathing and heart rates rise and cardiac output increases because blood oxygen saturation drops: a typical saturation near 98% can fall to about 91 or 92% on arrival, and it drops further during repeated sprints.
Magness told ESPN that the changes are unavoidable and can make efforts feel miserable. He said a roughly 10% decline in VO2 max at that altitude would translate to a 3% to 4% performance decrement. To illustrate the magnitude, he compared it to moving an elite mile runner from a 3:43 pace to one that is seven or eight seconds slower at altitude, per ESPN.
Magness also addressed the “fly in/fly out” approach. ESPN quoted him saying the method is physiologically defensible but that travel logistics create trade-offs, including disrupted sleep and travel-related leg fatigue. Mexico’s home record at the Azteca underscores the challenge: since 1966, the country has lost just twice in 89 competitive fixtures there, both in World Cup qualifying in September 2013 against the United States and Honduras, according to ESPN.
