Minister for Policing and Crime (): 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
intends 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 has already announced a contingent Order that will
apply where 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 8pm and 10pm 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 5pm and 6pm. For these matches licensing hours will
be extended until 1am the following morning, rather than 11pm on
the day of the match, allowing more time for fans to do a
post-match analysis and hopefully celebrate a great victory for a
home nation. The Order will apply to premises already licensed
until 11pm 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.
