Alireza Faghani, the Australian-Iranian referee who took charge of England's fiery last-16 World Cup tie against Mexico, has described the intense conditions he faced at the Estadio Azteca, including a deafening crowd of nearly 90,000 fans and disruption caused by delayed kick-off times. His account offers a rare insider perspective on a match that England manager Thomas Tuchel criticised afterwards, saying the officiating was "just not good enough."

The match, played on 5 July at Mexico City's high-altitude Azteca stadium, was delayed by an hour due to a storm, complicating Faghani's pre-match routine and preparation. Uncertainty had also been caused earlier in the week by a proposed six-hour shift in kick-off time, which Fifa considered before shelving after then-prime minister Keir Starmer raised concerns it would disadvantage England's altitude acclimatisation. Faghani, officiating his third match of a fourth World Cup, described deliberately avoiding over-reliance on pre-match notes about players to prevent bias, while managing the crowd noise, which he said was "unbelievable" and posed a threat to his impartiality on marginal decisions.