Trump adviser accuses Starmer of risking lives over England's World Cup kickoff row

Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House Task Force on the World Cup, has accused UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer of making a “grave” decision that put “people’s lives at risk” by opposing a proposed rescheduling of England’s Round of 16 clash with Mexico at the 2026 World Cup.

Severe thunderstorms were forecast to hit Mexico City ahead of England’s tie, prompting FIFA to consider bringing the kickoff forward by six hours — from 6pm local time to noon. Safety and security concerns also factored into the proposal, with officials mindful of four deaths that followed Mexico’s Round of 32 victory over Ecuador. However, the rescheduling was ultimately abandoned after opposition from both English and Mexican authorities.

Starmer, who is expected to leave office as UK Prime Minister within weeks, reportedly directed officials to oppose the change after being advised by the Football Association that an earlier kickoff would reduce the time England’s squad had to acclimatise to Mexico City’s altitude. England went on to beat Mexico 3-2 in a match that was delayed by an hour due to weather, with the Ten Lions also finishing the game with ten men following Jarrell Quansah’s dismissal.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Giuliani — son of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani — drew a direct contrast between Starmer’s intervention and Donald Trump’s separate lobbying of FIFA to have Folarin Balogun’s red card overturned ahead of the USMNT’s Round of 16 defeat to Belgium.

“I would go and point to something I think is a much graver decision that was made just a couple days ago,” Giuliani said. “Keir Starmer’s intervention through diplomatic channels of not allowing the Mexico-England match time to be moved. In the round of 32 after the match, three Mexicans died in this celebration. And there were discussions about moving that match time from the evening to noon so that way” — the remarks were cut off at that point in the available source material.

England have since progressed to the quarter-finals, where they face Norway. The quarter-final stage of the tournament gets underway on Thursday, 9 July, with France taking on Morocco in one of the day’s fixtures.