{"id":31221,"date":"2026-07-05T18:20:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T12:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/azteca-altitude-hostile-crowd-harry-kanes-no-excuses-message-before-england-enter-mexicos-fortress-football-news\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T18:20:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T12:50:57","slug":"azteca-altitude-hostile-crowd-harry-kanes-no-excuses-message-before-england-enter-mexicos-fortress-football-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/azteca-altitude-hostile-crowd-harry-kanes-no-excuses-message-before-england-enter-mexicos-fortress-football-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Azteca, altitude, hostile crowd: Harry Kane&#8217;s &#8216;no excuses&#8217; message before England enter Mexico&#8217;s fortress | Football News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-132195682,imgsize-73812,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/132195682.jpg\" alt=\"Azteca, altitude, hostile crowd: Harry Kane's 'no excuses' message before England enter Mexico's fortress\" title=\"FIFA World Cup 2026: Harry Kane (Image: ANI)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"FIFA World Cup 2026: Harry Kane (Image: ANI)\">FIFA World Cup 2026: Harry Kane (Image: ANI)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>England captain <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/harry-kane\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Harry Kane<\/a> has urged his teammates to be prepared for a stern examination when they take on co-hosts Mexico in a blockbuster FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 clash at the iconic Estadio Azteca. <!-- -->The knockout encounter, scheduled for July 6 at 5:30 AM IST, pits an unbeaten England side against a Mexican team that has enjoyed a flawless campaign on home soil.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"5\"\/>Mexico head into the contest in outstanding form, winning all four of their matches to top Group A. They have scored eight goals without conceding once, thriving on quick transitions while making full use of the high-altitude conditions in Mexico City.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"8\"\/>England, meanwhile, have remained unbeaten and booked their place in the Round of 16 with a 2-1 victory over DR Congo. <!-- -->While the Three Lions have also scored eight goals during the tournament, questions remain over fatigue after a demanding club season.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"13\"\/>Speaking ahead of the high-stakes encounter, Kane acknowledged the scale of the challenge and insisted England must be ready to adapt if they are to progress.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"15\"\/>&#8220;It is going to be a really tough game for many different reasons. First of all, Mexico are a really good team. Then all these other little details are going to make it even harder, but from our point of view it&#8217;s another opportunity to build some momentum. It&#8217;s kind of the peak time to do that,&#8221; Kane said, as quoted by Goal.com.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"19\"\/>The England skipper added that knockout football often requires teams to find different ways to win.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"21\"\/>&#8220;So there are no excuses in a game like this. We know it will be tough. We know we might have to grind it out. We might have to find a different way to win. But that&#8217;s what the World Cup is about. Everyone&#8217;s looking forward to the occasion, the stadium, the atmosphere, and ultimately putting yourself in those games. <!-- -->That is why you train like we do. That&#8217;s why you play football\u2014it is to have these epic games,&#8221; he added. <span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"25\"\/>Kane has been one of the standout performers of the tournament, scoring five goals to lead England&#8217;s attack. The striker is also on the verge of history, having netted five goals in FIFA World Cup knockout matches. One more strike would see him equal Gary Lineker&#8217;s England record of six World Cup knockout goals. <span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"27\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/sports\/football\/fifa-world-cup\/we-might-have-to-grind-it-out-harry-kane-sends-strong-message-ahead-of-england-vs-mexico-clash\/articleshow\/132195647.cms\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FIFA World Cup 2026: Harry Kane (Image: ANI) England captain Harry Kane has urged his teammates to be prepared for a stern examination when they take on co-hosts Mexico in a blockbuster FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 clash at the iconic Estadio Azteca. The knockout encounter, scheduled for July 6 at 5:30 AM [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}