Mexican fans kept Ecuador awake with drums and fireworks outside their hotel, and now reporters allegedly plan to do the same to England

Mexican journalists are reportedly planning to leak the location of the England team hotel ahead of the squad’s upcoming match, according to a report from BroBible. The plan follows a chaotic scene involving Ecuador last week, when fans gathered outside the team’s hotel overnight to keep the players from resting. The outlets involved have not been identified by name, and none have publicly responded to the report.

England is currently working to keep its hotel location private, but local media in Mexico appear intent on bypassing that effort. Reporters are reportedly looking to give fans the information needed to replicate the disruption that targeted Ecuador before its own match.

The incident with Ecuador, as detailed by Yahoo Sports, offers a preview of what England could face in Mexico City. Fans gathered outside the Ecuador team hotel overnight and used drums, fireworks, and car horns to disrupt the players’ sleep ahead of their Round of 32 match.

Ecuador didn’t let the incident slide

Ecuador ultimately lost the match against Mexico and filed a formal complaint with FIFA over the disruption. In a statement, the Ecuadorian Football Federation said the fan behavior “stands in stark contrast to the principles of fair play, equity, and unity,” and it called for tighter safeguards at future matches.

For the players, the disrupted sleep was a real complication ahead of a match already scheduled for 7:00 PM local time in Mexico City. Elsewhere in the news cycle this week, a Georgia man’s yearslong treehouse dispute also drew a large audience online, part of the broader run of viral stories circulating alongside the World Cup coverage.

England is now bracing for a similarly hostile environment as it prepares to face Mexico at Estadio Azteca, with kickoff set for 1:00 AM BST on Monday. Keeping a hotel location secret is standard practice for a traveling team, but it becomes far harder when local outlets are actively working to undercut it.

The tactic of gathering outside a rival team’s hotel is not new, though its impact on results has always been debated. Separately, an Irish couple’s small town restaurant stop also picked up traction online this week, part of the same wider social media news cycle.

The Ecuadorian Football Federation has asked FIFA to take stronger action to prevent similar incidents from recurring at future matches. If the hotel details are leaked, England’s players will likely face a night with little rest before taking the field against Mexico.