Three Lions beat Congo and we’ll ALL be into extra time with a 1am kick-off!
The group stage went relatively smoothly, but the knockout stages were set to present an entirely new challenge.
No, not for Thomas Tuchel’s men, but for those who want to watch every minute of England’s World Cup campaign.
While Wednesday’s round of 32 match comes at 17:00, the UK friendly, should England get past the DR Congo, fans are in for first legs after midnight and all the challenges that entails.
A victory sets up a clash against Mexico or Ecuador in Mexico City, with kick-off at 6pm local time (1am in the UK) on Sunday; This means the game could continue until 3am or 4am on Monday morning.
It will likely cause a mass last-minute ‘sick day’ vigil, or at least we’ll see armies of tearful workers and school children struggling on Monday morning.
The dilemma will be whether to stay awake and accept exhaustion, with some fans vowing online to ‘pull an all-nighter’ or miss the game live.
Some may even try to avoid the score and enjoy watching the game on TV with breakfast.
Among those faced with such a dilemma will be Harry Kane’s wife Katie.
England fans celebrate the team’s victory in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Group L match between Panama and England
Jude Bellingham’s girlfriend Ashlyn Castro is photographed attending a World Cup match
Jordan Pickford’s wife, Megan Davison, was always present at this year’s tournament.
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Should pubs be allowed to stay open late for England matches even if locals object to the noise?
While a number of WAGs were in the stands in the US, including goalkeeper Jordan Pickford’s wife Megan, 30, Ollie Watkins’ wife Ellie, 30, and Jude Bellingham’s girlfriend Ashlyn Castro, 28, the England captain’s wife stayed at home with her four children, three of whom are school age.
For those left standing, the question is whether they will watch at home or head to the bar to enjoy the experience with die-hard fans.
But even then your local may not show your vote if it runs afoul of council officials.
Although ministers have given pubs the latitude to allow extra time for drinkers during the World Cup knockout stages, this does not apply to kick-offs until 1am.
Venues wishing to open this late must apply to local licensing authorities for a Temporary Event Notice (TEN); This means a possible pause in some areas where locals do not want the noise.
There are no published figures on how many pubs have applied for TEN and most venues will be waiting for the outcome of Wednesday’s round of 32 match against Congo before applying.
Based on previous tournaments, around 3,000 of the 46,000 pubs in the UK are likely to request to stay open late.
Paul Crossman, chief executive of the Campaign for Pubs, said: ‘Many pubs will look to gauge demand as the tournament progresses, rather than making a blanket commitment upfront.’
He added: ‘Pubs may decide that it is not commercially worthwhile to keep staff working until 4am unless they expect a full house.’
