The 2026 FIFA World Cup Starts This Week — Is Your Business Ready?

The 2026 FIFA World Cup gets underway on Thursday 11 June, with the final scheduled for 19 July. Hosted across the United States, Canada and Mexico, this year's tournament features a record 48 teams and 104 matches — and with England, Scotland and Wales all having qualified, there's every reason for your employees to be following it closely.

That's great news for football fans. For employers, it's a prompt to make sure you have a clear, fair and consistent approach in place before the excitement takes hold.

Here's what you need to think about.

The Timing is Mostly on Your Side — But Not Entirely

Because the tournament is hosted in North America, most matches involving the home nations kick off at 9:00pm BST. That's largely after working hours, which removes some of the headaches that mid-afternoon kick-offs during previous tournaments created.

However, there are matches scheduled as late as 2:00am and even 5:00am BST, particularly in the group stage. If your team are following every fixture — or if they've been up late watching a big match — you may well see the effects in the morning. Set expectations early about what the working day looks like, regardless of what happened the night before.

Competing Annual Leave Requests

With England, Scotland and Wales all in the tournament, the chances of significant interest across your workforce are high. If England progress deep into the knockout rounds, you can expect a surge of last-minute annual leave requests.

A few practical points to help you manage this fairly:

Be clear about your process. Remind employees how annual leave requests should be submitted and how you will handle competing requests — first come, first served is the most defensible approach, but whatever your process is, apply it consistently.

Set a reasonable notice period. You are entitled to require a minimum notice period for leave, typically twice the length of the leave requested. If an employee wants a day off for a particular match day, they should give adequate notice — not request it at 8pm the night before.

Consider a flexible alternative. Some employers find it more practical to agree a late start or early finish on key match days rather than approve full days off. This requires less disruption for the business and still gives employees something to appreciate. Any such arrangements need to be applied equally across the workforce, not just to those who ask loudest.

The ‘World Cup Sickie’ — and How to Respond To It

It happens every major tournament. The Monday after a big England match sees an above-average number of employees reporting in sick. You cannot assume that any individual absence is dishonest, but if you notice a pattern — particularly if it follows a pattern of late requests for leave that were declined — it is entirely reasonable to manage that through your normal absence procedure.

If an employee is genuinely unwell, they are entitled to be absent and should be treated with the same care as any other absence. If, however, you have reasonable grounds to question whether an absence is genuine, you can conduct a return-to-work interview, seek medical evidence where appropriate, and, if the matter warrants it, proceed through your disciplinary process. The key, as always, is consistency — apply the same standards regardless of who the employee is.

Treating Your Workforce Fairly and Equally

This is where a number of employers catch themselves out. Your workforce is likely to include people who support different nations — not just England, Scotland and Wales, but any of the 48 countries taking part. An employee whose national team is also in the tournament has just as much of an interest in following it as a British colleague.

Be mindful of a few things:

Nationality and national origin are protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. Treating an employee less favourably because of their nationality — for example, allowing England fans to leave early to watch a game but refusing the same flexibility to a Portuguese or Brazilian colleague — could give rise to a discrimination complaint.

Apply any flexibility equally. If you set up a screen in the office for England games, consider whether you would do the same for games involving other nationalities represented in your team. You don't have to show every match, but be thoughtful about how your decisions land.

Avoid assumptions. Not everyone in your team will be a football fan, and not everyone who is British will be supporting England. Avoid creating a workplace atmosphere where employees feel pressured to participate in sweepstakes, banter or shared viewing if it's not for them.

Workplace Sweepstakes — a Word of Caution

Office sweepstakes are a long-standing workplace tradition and, in most cases, a harmless bit of fun. However, there are a few things to bear in mind:

Under the Gambling Act 2005, a workplace sweepstake is generally permissible provided it is genuinely private, not-for-profit (any surplus goes back to participants or to charity), and the total prize does not exceed certain thresholds. Keep it simple, keep it informal, and make participation genuinely voluntary.

A Simple, Practical Approach

The employers who get this right are those who communicate early and act consistently. A short note to all staff setting out your approach — how leave requests will be handled, expectations around attendance, and the spirit in which you want the next five weeks to go — goes a long way.

You don't need a 10-page World Cup policy. You need a clear, fair position that your managers understand and can apply evenly across the team.

If you'd like a template communication to share with your staff, or if you'd like to talk through how to handle a specific situation, get in touch.