Pubs could stay open until 2am during the World Cup

The UK Government has confirmed that pubs can stay open until 2am for all games played beyond the group stage of the World Cup. But how will this all work and are there further relaxations to the rules on the horizon?

According to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said that, since the tournament is being hosted jointly by the US, Canada and Mexico with time differences, there will be a temporary relaxation of licensing laws in the UK for all dates when games will be played beyond the group stage, which includes the round of 32 and 16.

When kick-off times were initially confirmed, there were concerns among both the hospitality sector and football fans that pubs would be unable to take advantage of showing the games. To begin with Mahmood had agreed to extend opening hours only if any of the home nations got beyond the last eight of the tournament. This has since been revised.

New rules

Now, Mahmood has agreed to extend opening hours until 1am for most knockout games and 2am for those kicking off at 10pm. Pubs will also be able to apply for a temporary licence for any late kick-offs that are anticipated to finish beyond 2am due to the time difference. Despite these amendments, the new ruling will not affect the first three of England’s matches in the group stage, which begin at 9pm and 10pm.

Describing the reasoning behind the new rules, Mahmood said: “With later kick-offs at this year’s World Cup, we don’t want pubs to blow the final whistle before the winning goal. So we’re showing red tape the red card and taking pub hours to extra time so fans can get another round in without missing a single kick.”

She insisted: “We’re toasting our boys at the World Cup and our locals this summer. Fans won’t need to go home, before football’s come home.”

The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) also recently told The Sun that the decision was “a win for pubs, jobs and community spirit”.

Also chiming in on the importance of the event, hospitality industry platform Harri offered extra insight on how crucial this was for the sector.

Echoing the sentiments of the industry, Harri head of global customer experience Dan Maimone explained: “Extending licensing during the 2026 World Cup would be a huge boost for hospitality. It’s vital that any changes cover the full schedule of fixtures, especially those later North American kick-offs. The last Euros brought around £3 billion into the UK economy, and hospitality was one of the biggest contributors to that success. That level of impact matters — for many businesses, the World Cup isn’t just an event, it’s a lifeline, in fact that extra £3 billion could pay the annual salaries of 120,000 hospitality workers, the equivalent of staffing every pub, bar and restaurant in Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds combined.”

Maimone added: “For some, the extra late-night trade will be the difference between breaking even and making a profit. For others, it’s what helps keep teams employed through the quieter seasonal months. Clear and early guidance from government would help operators manage risk, plan with confidence, and make the most of what should be a national celebration.”

At present, England and Scotland have already qualified for the tournament, which begins on 11 June, while either Wales or Northern Ireland could potentially still join them via the next playoffs. According to the sporting press, if England wins Group L – which contains Croatia, Panama and Ghana – then its quarter-final on 1 July will start at 5pm.

Potentially flexible for more dates

In the flip side, the victory would then also mean the last-16 clash would begin on 5 July at 1am, meaning pubs would only be allowed to stay open for the first half unless the government also grants a one-off dispensation is to help publicans go beyond the 2am cut-off.

Both semi-finals are set to start at 8pm and the final on 19 July is the same, which would be optimal for UK audiences. Start times for matches in the US were moved to different slots for player welfare to avoid the country’s heatwave, a similar situation was seen with the Club World Cup last summer which was beset by heat issues.

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