‘The noise was unbelievable’: the referee’s view of Mexico v England at the World Cup
‘The noise was unbelievable’: the referee’s view of Mexico v England at the World Cup. England’s manager Thomas Tuchel called the officiating ‘just not good enough’ in the fiery last-16 tie.
England’s manager Thomas Tuchel called the officiating ‘just not good enough’ in the fiery last-16 tie. Now Alireza Faghani gives his version of events It was 6pm on 5 July in Mexico City, and Alireza Faghani, a 48-year-old Australian-Iranian, was asleep in the locker room, snoring.
His assistants had turned the music down. Had it not been for the muffled roar of nearly 90,000 fans through the concrete walls of the Estadio Azteca, he could have slept until the following morning.
Faghani was the referee for Mexico v England in the last 16 at the 2026 World Cup. Mexico hadn’t lost a competitive game at the Azteca since 2013, at least in part because they’re used to the conditions.