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Prime Minister Keir Starmer announces temporary licence law flex to allow pubs to stay open for England's World Cup match

The game is expected to kick off at 1AM in the UK, but fortunately pubs will be allowed to stay open so fans can enjoy the match as a community.
Ben Lyons Senior Editor 3 July 2026

Prepare for a very sparse workforce across the United Kingdom and specifically England on Monday, July 6. England's next World Cup match is expected to kick off at 1AM BST local time, with the opponent being Mexico, and as the game is happening at this ungodly hour many feared it would mean not being able to watch it as a community in pubs around the country.

In what is likely one of his final endeavours as the UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer has confirmed that a temporary licence law flex is being issued so that pubs across the UK can remain open until 5AM BST on Monday morning to ensure that fans can enjoy the match as a group.

In a video, Starmer explains: "We're making sure that pubs can stay open on Monday morning, early on Monday morning for the England game. So I know lots of people are making their plans. If you're planning to watch it in the pub, that is great, and it's really good for pubs as well. So come on England."

https://x.com/Keir_Starmer/status/2072711384941367739

This development comes after it was initially feared the government would not be relaxing its licensing laws for the match. The question now is... will you be heading to the pub at 1AM to watch the game?

Senior Editor Ben was a Senior Editor at Gamereactor UK. When he wasn’t writing, editing or filming for Gamereactor, he could usually be found playing an FPS or getting lost in a sprawling RPG.
Full profile Gamereactor author since October 2020 · 18,577 published articles
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