A five-and-a-half-hour saga of confusion, anger, and last-minute reversals gripped England's World Cup last-16 tie against Mexico on Friday — only for the dust to settle exactly where it started.

The match at the Azteca in Mexico City will kick off at 18:00 local time on Sunday, as originally scheduled — 01:00 BST on Monday — meaning England fans face a very late night if they want to watch live on BBC One and iPlayer.

How the chaos unfolded

Reports first emerged from Mexican journalists around 18:30 BST that FIFA was weighing up moving the kick-off six hours earlier, to 12:00 local time. The stated reason was concerns over forecast storms near the Azteca, including the threat of lightning and flooding, around the original kick-off window.

The Football Association was initially kept in the dark. When BBC Sport journalists began asking questions, the FA had no knowledge of any planned schedule change. Behind the scenes, sources briefed that an official FIFA announcement was imminent.

England's players were wrapping up an open training session in Kansas City when the story broke. Both Morgan Rogers and Marcus Rashford spoke to the media with composure, insisting any change would not affect their preparations. By around 21:30 BST, the squad boarded their chartered flight to Mexico City — still not knowing when the match would be played.

Fury from both camps

Neither the Football Association nor its Mexican counterpart were pleased. Both governing bodies made clear their anger at a proposed alteration less than 48 hours before kick-off, raising concerns about fan travel, logistical disruption, and the impact on team preparations.

Mexico manager Javier Aguirre, speaking to the media in Mexico City, called the proposed changes a