Pubs across Worcester will stay open late to show England’s final group game against Panama.
The Three Lions currently sit top of the group and will hope to go unbeaten for the fourth consecutive group stage at a major tournament.
To give fans the chance to cheer the squad on among fellow supporters, pubs have announced later opening hours for the match, which kicks of at 10pm tonight (Saturday).
Venues including the New Inn in Claines, the Farrier’s Arms in the city centre and the Ale Hub in St Peter’s will welcome fans beyond their usual closing times.
The New Inn will remain open until 12.15am, instead of its usual 11pm closing time.
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Why are pubs opening later for England vs Panama?
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood announced in February that licencing laws would be relaxed during the world cup, allowing pubs to open later depending on when the match kicks off.
If a match kick offs between 5pm and 9pm, pubs will be allowed to open until 1am, while 10pm kick-offs will give establishments the chance to extend opening until 2am.
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However, these extensions only apply to knockout stage matches, with pubs having to apply for temporary event notices (TENs) to extend opening hours during the group stage.
What time will England’s knockout stage games be?
Following a group stage schedule which has seen kick-offs at largely similar times, England’s knockout game kick-offs could become a lot more varied, depending on where they finish in the group.
The Three Lions beat Croatia 4-2 in their opener, but were held to a goalless draw by Ghana last Tuesday (June 23) (Image: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire)
If England finish top of Group L, their round of 32 match, currently forecast to be against Senegal, will kick off at 5pm on Wednesday (July 1). This will be followed by the Three Lions latest, or earliest, match of the tournament so far, a 1am kick-off on Monday, July 6.
If they were to make it to the Quarter-final, England would kick-off at 10pm on Saturday, July 11, while the semi-final would be an 8pm start on Wednesday, July 15.
Should England finish second, a round of 32 match against Portugal (as it stands) will kick off a midnight on Friday (July 3). From there the round of 16 (Monday, July 6) quarter-final (Friday, July 10), and semi-final (Tuesday, July 14) would kick-off at 8pm.