BERLIN, June 30: England will play Portugal under a closed roof at the AufShchalke Arena in Gelsenkirchen when they meet in the quarter-final.

Although no inclement weather is expected, FIFA spokesman Markus Siegler said on Friday that the roof at the stadium would be closed for “sporting reasons”.

When the roof was closed there for the Group C match between Argentina and Serbia & Montenegro the stadium became only the fourth in World Cup history to stage a game “indoors”.

Other matches had previously been played under a closed roof in Detroit in 1994, the Sapporo Dome in 2002 and Frankfurt where the roof was closed for the Group G match between South Korea and Togo.—Reuters