Tuchel on altitude challenge ahead of England vs Mexico clash: ‘Felt a headache’

“Altitude: it is what it is. Home crowd: it is what it is. We have the spirit, we have the commitment, we have the pure will and the glue in the team to overcome these things. We know what is coming. But that is the beauty of it,” he added.

Tuchel said the opening 15-20 minutes of Sunday’s match would be crucial and that if England negotiated that period well, they would be in a “good place”.

“It is not a coincidence Mexico starts their matches strong and aggressively as the first 15 to 20 minutes maybe the tougher. Once we overcome that, I think we are in a good place.”

“The players are kind of adapted – you know about the situation. We will take care of what we need to take care of. We need a strong performance and I feel we will have one,” Tuchel said.

There was also speculation before the match about an earlier kick-off because of projected storms later in the day. Although the change did not materialise, Tuchel said the uncertainty had no impact on his players.

“Inside the bubble, it was quite calm. The players were not aware there was a possible change of kick-off. Just this example shows you to not lose your head – we cannot influence it. Three and a half hours later, you land in Mexico and the kick-off time stayed the same. It is not worth losing your head,” he said.