Sports scientist explains why Mexico has huge World Cup advantage over England
As England is set to face Mexico in a nail-biting round of 16 World Cup clash on Monday, a sports scientist has explained while their rivals might have one huge advantage. The crunch match will take place the historic Estadio Azteca stadium in Mexico City. Not only will this be home turf for the opposing team, it also sits at an elevation of around 2,240m above sea level. This is significantly higher than Wembley Stadium, where England regularly play, which sits at just 57m above sea level.
Dr Lindsey Hunt, senior sports scientist at Precision Fuel & Hydration, said: "Altitude mainly bites at the Mexican venues, with Mexico City well above 2,000 metres. Up there, the air pressure is lower, which drives less oxygen into the bloodstream, so high-intensity aerobic work feels harder, and players fatigue sooner until they adjust. The ball also travels faster through thinner air, which changes the feel of the game.”
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The altitude means that the Three Lions will be competing with around 20% less oxygen in the air than they are used to at home.
Mexico has won all four of its World Cup matches to date without conceding a goal. They have also played 89 competitive matches at the 87,523-capacity Estadio Azteca, losing just twice.
Athletes who regularly train in such conditions learn to adapt. Dr Hunt said: “Proper heat acclimation, a sensible early arrival and adjusting to the local time zone won't manufacture a result, but they can stop the environment from eroding performance potential and recovery, which in a tournament of fine margins is an advantage worth having.
“The bigger gains usually come from removing disadvantages rather than adding superpowers: arriving already adapted, sleeping well in the right time zone, and recovering properly between matches."
However, England’s head coach, Thomas Tuchel, has admitted his players will face a “big disadvantage” due to time constraints. He said: “The altitude will be a big disadvantage because we cannot physically adapt to it.
“It just takes too much time. We have only three days in between these matches. It’s physically just not possible to adapt to the altitude.”
Despite the challenge of altitude, England remains the UK bookmakers’ favourite to win a close, competitive match.
The team has already had to cope with high temperatures during some games, which “changes the physiology of the game”, Dr Hunt said.
He explained: “As core and skin temperature climb, the skin draws blood away from the working muscles through competitive demand to shed heat.
"In practice, that shows up as less high-intensity running, fewer repeated sprints and a slower tempo, especially late in each half.
“Humidity is the multiplier: when the air is already saturated, sweat can't evaporate efficiently (think dripping sweat), so the body's main cooling system is blunted.”
Dr Hunt added: “The awkward part is that preparing for altitude and for heat can pull in different directions, and all evidence shows that trying to adapt to both leads to nil or negative performance gains (i.e., maladaptation), so teams have to prioritise for where and when they are actually playing."
The weather forecast for Mexico City on Sunday shows a high temperature of around 23C.