England fans can now drink alcohol in pubs for Mexico World Cup game after licensing update

With England’s game against Mexico at the Azteca stadium kicking off at 1 a.m. British time, the government has relaxed alcohol laws to allow pubs to stay open.

LONDON — England’s soccer team is bracing for the thunderous noise and thin air of Mexico’s Azteca Stadium on Sunday. Back home, fans had been bracing themselves for a different ordeal: having to watch England play Mexico without a pint in hand at the local pub.

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With the World Cup game kicking off at 1 a.m. Monday in Britain, publicans had raised concerns that they would be prevented from opening for the game under the country’s rigid licensing laws.

But after a bubble of public outcry, outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer staged a swift intervention on Thursday — promising an emergency legal measure to give pubs and bars across England and Wales blanket permission to stay open until 5 a.m. for the match.