Britain is bracing itself for England’s World Cup last-16 clash against Mexico, which is set to take place in the early hours of Monday morning.
After a dramatic back-and-forth amid reports the game could be brought forward due to weather concerns, FIFA U-turned and announced it would go ahead as originally planned on Monday at 1am BST.
Pubs across England and Wales were granted special permission to extend their opening hours until 5am for the fixture.
“Football might be coming home but we’re making sure fans don’t have to,” Sir Keir Starmer announced on Thursday.
“Pubs staying open til the final whistle is good news for supporters and good news for the pubs and venues that bring our communities together.
“The whole country will be backing the team. Come on, England!”
Meanwhile, schools around the country said they will allow pupils to start late on Monday so that they can watch the match.
The move has sparked criticism among police leaders and emergency services who expressed concern about the strain on resources and an anticipated increase in violent incidents.
“We want everyone to enjoy the football and celebrate safely. However, our experience from previous major sporting events shows that ambulance services can see increased demand when large numbers of people are socialising late into the evening and early into the morning, particularly where alcohol consumption is involved,” said Anna Parry, managing director of association of ambulance of chief executives said.
“The combination of extended drinking hours and very warm weather has the potential to create additional pressures on NHS emergency services through alcohol-related incidents, injuries, dehydration and other avoidable health issues.
“Ambulance services are prepared and will be monitoring demand closely, but we would ask people to celebrate responsibly, look after friends and family, stay hydrated, and only use 999 in a genuine emergency.”
The National Police Chiefs’ Council also criticised the “late announcement” despite the fact that potential match dates having been known for a long time.
In a joint statement on Thursday, the Council said that the change meant “officers working extended shifts which in turn takes them away from communities”.
Greene King said more than 600 pubs across England will be staying open late to show the match and Marston’s said more than 400 will be open late.
Stonegate Group said 610 Craft Union, 182 managed sites and hundreds of leased and tenanted pubs will be opening late, and Fuller’s said 30 pubs were planning to stay open as of Friday afternoon.
Official figures show 16.3 million people tuned in to watch England beat the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, with over 3,000 England fans in Mexico City to watch the game.
The last-minute change also left pubs feeling uncertain with a sense that “everything felt very up in the air”, Martha Gallagher-Scoble, bar manager at the Prince of Wales pub in London, told the BBC.
“We had just sorted staffing and then it was like ‘oh, you’re going to have to change everything you just spent the last 12 hours sorting out,’” said the 20-year-old.
The event comes shortly after a heavy police presence was organised for London Pride 2026 on Saturday.
