Need to know
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has hinted that an England World Cup win could mean an extra bank holiday, with the Three Lions set to face Norway in the quarter-finals
Everything you need to know about a potential new bank holiday if England win the 2026 World Cup
- Sir Keir Starmer has hinted that England winning the World Cup could mean an extra bank holiday for the nation.
- The Prime Minister praised last Monday’s victory over Mexico as “one of the best England performances I’ve ever seen” ahead of Saturday’s quarter-final clash with Norway.
- Asked about a potential bank holiday if England win the tournament, he told reporters at Wednesday’s NATO conference: “I don’t want to jinx it, but ask me again if we get to the final.”
- The Friday following the July 19 final has been earmarked as the most likely date for a celebratory bank holiday.
- During the NATO summit in Ankara, Sir Keir exchanged friendly banter with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, joking that England only win World Cups under Labour governments.
- He said: “But for 90 minutes on Saturday evening, we’ll have to go our different ways as we go into that match.”
- The PM also revealed he had resisted calls to overturn Jarell Quansah’s red card against Mexico, despite Donald Trump’s intervention for a US player.
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Terms and Conditions.