Sir Keir Starmer intervened to prevent Fifa from bringing forward England’s kick-off time amid concerns the change could give World Cup hosts Mexico an unfair advantage.
The prime minister acted after the Football Association alerted Downing Street that the proposed change – to avoid lightning storms – would give the Three Lions less time to adapt to the high altitude of the Azteca Stadium.
Sir Keir acted through diplomatic channels to ensure Thomas Tuchel’s team had sufficient time to prepare; England won the game 3-2 to set up a quarter-final clash with Norway.
It came amid an extraordinary row over another political intervention by Donald Trump. The US president triggered uproar by confirming he personally asked Fifa president Gianni Infantino to “review” USA striker Folarin Balogun’s red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was controversially suspended – allowing him to continue in the tournament.
Uefa expressed “disbelief” at the decision by Fifa, calling it “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable”.
The statement from European football’s governing body added: “When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined.”
England’s game in Mexico City was thrown into chaos by a forecast of powerful storms in the area, with Fifa officials suggesting an earlier kick-off at 7pm Sunday UK time.
As he welcomed NHS staff to No 10 for a reception to celebrate the 78th birthday of the health service, the prime minister was asked about reports that England had opposed the change. “We had to battle with the FA to get it back to where it was, which was counterintuitive,” he told guests.
In the end, lightning delayed the kick-off even further, to 2am UK time.
Sir Keir had already used emergency legislation to allow pubs to stay open late on Sunday, while some employers and schools gave employees and pupils Monday morning off to enjoy the game.
Pubs reaped the dividend of England’s victory with sales increasing by 67 per cent as fans found the perfect tonic for their nerves before celebrating the team’s progress to the quarter-finals, figures from Heineken UK suggest.
Food sales rose 81 per cent, cider by 127 per cent and lager by 76 per cent in Heineken UK’s managed-operator pubs, with the busiest trading period around kick-off at 2am, with a 4,782 per cent year-on-year increase in total sales.
Meanwhile, President Trump confirmed on Monday he personally lobbied Mr Infantino, telling him Balogun’s challenge “was not a foul” and adding that the referee “is a little bit suspect”.
Fifa’s statutes prohibit political interference in matters relating to its national associations, but it has not yet commented on how it came to the decision to suspend Balogun’s ban.
Belgium have appealed against the decision to overturn the ban.
Mr Trump said at the Oval Office on Monday: “I spoke to Gianni, who’s highly respected.
“I saw the play and I’m a person that loves sports and was a good athlete, and I understand sports really well, really well, and that wasn’t a foul, that wasn’t even an infraction; that was two guys running full speed that happened to crash into each other.
“These were two great athletes that got tangled up and this referee, who is a little bit suspect, if you check his past… I don’t want to say that, because I don’t like to create controversy, but very suspect.
“He made a call that nobody could believe. He [Balogun] didn’t do anything wrong and he’s our best player, or one of our best players … and he [the referee] gave him a red card.
“It’s very unfair, you can’t do that. So, yes, I asked for a review by Fifa. I spoke to a man who’s highly respected [Infantino] and by the way, whose level of respect has gone up tenfold.”