World Cup licensing hours extended as Government updates previous order

The Home Office has introduced a further amendment to the 2026 World Cup licensing hours framework, confirming additional late‑opening permissions for pubs and bars if England or Scotland progress in the tournament.

The Licensing Act 2003 (FIFA World Cup Licensing Hours) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2026 updates the original June 2026 regulations by widening the range of fixtures that qualify for automatic extensions. The change ensures that licensed premises in England and Wales can continue serving alcohol and providing late‑night refreshment beyond 11pm for a broader set of knockout‑stage matches.

The Order maintains the existing extensions applicable to quarter-final matches, semi-final matches, the third-place play-off match and the final match involving England. It provides for the existing extensions to be varied where there is a delay in finishing a match which has started, so that licensing hours are extended until half an hour after the game has concluded (or noon the following day if that is sooner).

It also provides that where a match is postponed to, resumed or re-played on a day other than the day it is scheduled to take place, that there will be licensing extensions on that day. Should that arise, the extension period begins at 10 p.m. where the match is scheduled to begin on a Sunday and at 11 p.m. on any other day. The extension period ends at 1 a.m. the following day (or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the match if that is later).

The amendments are intended to ensure that the licensing hours extensions continue to operate appropriately where the start of a relevant match is delayed, where a match overruns its scheduled duration, or where a relevant match is postponed or resumed beyond the period covered by the original extension.