​England football fans will be able to stay in pubs longer this Saturday for the match against Norway, the government has confirmed. Extended licensing hours will allow pubs across England and Wales to stay open until 30 minutes after the final whistle, even if the game is delayed by extreme heat. The fixture, taking place at 10pm BST on Saturday at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, had previously seen ministers extend opening times until 2am, with this latest move using flexible laws to permit a further allowance.
Policing minister Sarah Jones said: “England fans deserve the chance to watch every minute of the quarter-final together, and that is exactly what our extension guarantees. After the weather delay we saw before the Mexico game, we want to give fans and venues complete certainty that no-one will miss a moment of the action. I hope pubs and bars across England and Wales are packed on Saturday night, as we hopefully move one step closer to bringing football home.”
The Three Lions’ previous game against Mexico at the Azteca Stadium in the early hours of Monday was delayed by an hour due to storms. Fans celebrated watching a screening of the World Cup match at The Rising Sun beer garden in Ashton, Bristol. Licensing hours were extended into the early morning for that game, which England won 3-2.
England manager Thomas Tuchel said he was ready to take another big step as the team prepared to overcome heat, humidity, and Erling Haaland in their crunch quarter-final clash. “I think we took a big step in our last match, but it was only a step. We’re still hungry, we still have dreams, and we still have a big goal to play for. The next step is to win the quarter-final. It’s important to look up front. We left this match behind. We take the positive things and the belief with us, but everything that matters is ahead of us. It’s tomorrow’s match.”
Temperatures are expected to be around 32C when the game kicks off at 5pm local time (10pm UK). Tuchel’s side conducted their World Cup preparation camp in Florida to acclimatise to such conditions, but weather in the earlier matches included rain and games played under a roof. Extended licensing hours mean pubs in England and Wales can stay open until 30 minutes after the final whistle, even if a late start is caused by extreme heat. “Science says that we banked a lot of heat training,” the German coach noted. “That will help us. This week we spent quite a few minutes in the heat, and then we will go from there. Subjectively, for me, it’s always like ‘can you really prepare for that?’”
As the match approaches, fans will be hoping for a strong performance as England aim to secure a place in the semi-finals.