The group stage has been navigated relatively smoothly, but the knockout stages are set to throw up a whole new challenge.
No, not for Thomas Tuchel’s men – but for those wanting to watch every minute of England’s World Cup campaign.
While Wednesday’s round-of-32 game comes at the UK-friendly kick-off time of 5pm, should England get past DR Congo, what awaits fans is their first post-midnight match and all the difficulties that entails.
A victory sets up a clash against Mexico or Ecuador, in Mexico City, due to kick-off at 6pm local time on Sunday, which is 1am in the UK – meaning the match could go on till 3am or 4am on a Monday morning.
It is likely to induce a mass bout of last-minute ‘sick days’, or at least see armies of bleary-eyed workers and schoolchildren struggling in on the Monday morning.
The dilemma will be whether to stay up and accept the tiredness, with some fans online vowing to ‘pull an all-nighter’, or miss the match live.
Some may even try to avoid the score and enjoy watching the game on catch-up TV with their breakfast.
Among those facing such a dilemma will be Harry Kane’s wife, Katie.
While a number of WAGs – including goalkeeper Jordan Pickford’s wife Megan, 30, Ollie Watkins’ wife Ellie, also 30, and Jude Bellingham’s girlfriend Ashlyn Castro, 28 – have been in the stands in the US, the England captain’s wife has stayed at home with their four children, three of whom are of school age.
Fans of England celebrate after the team’s victory in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group L match between Panama and England
Jude Bellingham’s girlfriend Ashlyn Castro pictured attending a World Cup match
Jordan Pickford’s wife, Megan Davison has been an ever present figure during this year’s tournament
For those who do stay up there is the question of whether to watch at home or go to the pub to enjoy the experience with fellow hardcore fans.
But even then your local might not be showing the game if they fall foul of council officials.
Although ministers have given pubs free rein to allow drinkers extra time during the World Cup knockout stages, that does not apply to kick-offs as late as 1am.
Individual venues wishing to open that late must apply to their local licensing authorities for a Temporary Event Notice (TEN), meaning a likely stand-off in some areas where locals do not want the noise.
There are no published figures for how many pubs have applied for a TEN, and most venues will be waiting for the outcome of the round-of-32 match against Congo on Wednesday before applying.
Based on previous tournaments, it is likely that around 3,000 of the UK’s 46,000 pubs will ask to stay open late.
‘A lot of pubs will be trying to gauge the demand as the tournament progresses, rather than making a blanket commitment in advance,’ said Paul Crossman, the chairman of the Campaign for Pubs.
He added: ‘Pubs may decide it is not commercially worthwhile to keep staff on until 4am unless they expect a full house.’
