UK government eyes 24 July bank holiday if England clinch first World Cup in 60 years

The UK government is considering declaring Friday 24 July a bank holiday if England win the World Cup, it is understood, with the final scheduled for the preceding Sunday and the country potentially on the brink of its first world title since 1966.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer stopped short of confirming the plan when pressed by reporters at the NATO summit in Ankara on Wednesday, but left the door open. “I don’t want to jinx it, but ask me again if we get to the final,” the Arsenal supporter told journalists.

Andy Burnham, widely tipped as a future Labour leader, had urged caution on the subject a week earlier. Speaking to Andrew Marr on LBC after England’s win over the Democratic Republic of Congo, he said: “I think, you know, it might be a bit premature to be speculating. It would be a fantastic moment, wouldn’t it, and we can hope and pray. I’m an Evertonian, I do not ever back anything when it comes to football.”

The idea of a bank holiday to mark an English football triumph is not new. When the Lionesses won Euro 2022, supporters called for one, though the women’s team were ultimately celebrated with an open-top bus parade through central London and a visit to Downing Street.

England’s path to a potential final has been far from straightforward. The Three Lions beat Mexico 3-2 on Monday despite playing with ten men for the final 36 minutes after Jarell Quansah was shown a red card in the 54th minute. Jude Bellingham scored twice in two minutes to rescue the tie, becoming the first player to score a brace at the Azteca since Diego Maradona in 1986.

Sir Keir described the victory as “one of the best England performances I’ve ever seen” but declined to follow the lead of US President Donald Trump, who successfully lobbied FIFA to overturn the suspension of American forward Folarin Balogun ahead of the United States’ match against Belgium. The prime minister said he had received numerous messages urging him to seek a reversal of Quansah’s red card but chose not to intervene.

England now face Norway in the quarter-finals on Saturday, a match that sets up a high-profile duel between Harry Kane and Manchester City striker Erling Haaland — a contest that will test both nations’ defences and could define the trajectory of the tournament.