FIFA Men’s Football World Cup 2026: Licensing Hours
(1 day, 18 hours ago)
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The Minister for Policing and Crime (Sarah Jones)
Late last year the Government consulted on proposals to make a contingent licensing hours order under section 172 of the Licensing Act 2003 for the 2026 FIFA men’s football world cup. The majority of respondents were in favour of licensing hours being relaxed for the semi-final and final stages of the tournament, with some calling on us to go further and extend hours for games in the earlier rounds of the tournament.
Having considered the consultation responses, the Government intend to proceed with a contingent licensing hours order for England and Wales to enable communities to come together at their local licensed premises to support the home nations—England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland—where they progress past the group stages of the tournament.
The Government have already announced a contingent order that will apply if any of the home nations reach the rounds of 32 and 16 as for the quarter finals, semi-finals and finals for matches that kick off between 8 pm and 10 pm UK time.
Having considered this further, I now wish to announce that we will also extend for round of 32 and round of 16 matches that kick off at 5 pm and 6 pm. For these matches licensing hours will be extended until 1 am the following morning, rather than 11 pm on the day of the match, allowing more time for fans to do post-match analysis and hopefully celebrate a great victory for a home nation. The order will apply to premises already licensed until 11 pm for the sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises in England and Wales, and will only come into effect should a home nation play in the matches.
This order will enable communities to come together to collectively support the home nations teams and celebrate their success, while also providing a welcome boost to the hospitality sector at this challenging time. The order will be laid in Parliament in due course and an economic note will be published alongside it on legislation.gov.uk.
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