{"id":530902,"date":"2026-07-03T10:07:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T10:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/530902\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T10:07:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T10:07:10","slug":"many-pubs-set-to-remain-closed-for-england-mexico-world-cup-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/530902\/","title":{"rendered":"Many pubs set to remain closed for England-Mexico World Cup game"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many pubs are expected to remain closed for England\u2019s World Cup match against Mexico despite the UK government permitting them to stay open until 5am.<\/p>\n

Keir Starmer announced on Thursday that pubs across England and Wales<\/a> will be able to stay open late for the round of 16 match, which kicks off at 1am on Monday.<\/p>\n

MPs had called for leeway beyond the 2am extended pub opening hours already in place for England matches during the football World Cup.<\/p>\n

The blanket extension means individual pubs do not need to apply for extended hours.<\/p>\n

However, some pub owners have said issues with arranging staffing and being located in residential areas will mean they will remain closed.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Wetherspoons said \u201conly five of the 800 Wetherspoon pubs will be open\u201d for the match.<\/p>\n

Greene King, which has 2,600 pubs, restaurants and hotels across the UK, said over 600 pubs across England would be staying open late to show the match.<\/p>\n

The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) said earlier this year that the number of pubs in the UK had fallen from 46,829 in 2020 to 44,656 in 2025.<\/p>\n

Tommy Higgs, co-owner of The Three Horseshoes pub in Witney, Oxfordshire, said they would not be opening for the England match.<\/p>\n

\"FansFans watch a screening of the World Cup match between England and DR Congo (Steven Paston\/PA)<\/p>\n

Speaking to LBC, Mr Higgs said: \u201cWe\u2019re in a built-up community around here, and I think it\u2019s just a little bit disrespectful for our locals to have that sort of noise at 5am.\u201d<\/p>\n

The publican added: \u201cNo one\u2019s going to want to work until five in the morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not a nightclub, we\u2019re a local pub in a small town, and I am not allowed to annoy my neighbours because I\u2019ll be into holy hell with that.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of our staff have second jobs. We employ a couple of full-timers, but mainly part-time, and I would never expect that of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Discussing the government\u2019s decision to loosen restrictions, Higgs said: \u201cFor some, I think it\u2019s a huge benefit, especially in your bigger built-up cities, where there are places that open later, but for here and where we are, it\u2019s just not something that we will do.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s other things they can be doing to help the pub trade out \u2013 staying open until five o\u2019clock in the morning on a Monday \u2013 for some is a benefit, but for others it\u2019s just completely pointless, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing quite like the atmosphere in our pubs and it gives fans the chance to come together, soak up the occasion and hopefully celebrate<\/p>\n

Andrew Gallagher, Greene King<\/p>\n

Andrew Gallagher, brand and marketing director at Greene King, said: \u201cWe\u2019re delighted to have been granted permission to stay open late as England progress through the tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing quite like the atmosphere in our pubs and it gives fans the chance to come together, soak up the occasion and hopefully celebrate!<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know this will be a popular match, so urge guests to secure their spot as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

England will face Mexico in the last 16 after beating the Democratic Republic of the Congo 2-1 on Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many pubs are expected to remain closed for England\u2019s World Cup match against Mexico despite the UK government…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-530902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/530903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}