And so, we are just about to be bombarded with wall-to-wall football for the next six weeks.
The 2026 Fifa World Cup Finals start next Thursday in Mexico City with a match between the home hosts Mexico and South Africa.
No doubt our resident Springbok’s will all be rooted to the telly for the match. That game is not too bad as it begins at 10pm local time and as it is not a school night then celebrations or commiserations can go on into the wee small hours.
However, most of the games are not quite so time friendly.
I will be hoping Scotland does well however, they have two matches at 1am and one at 4am and I have to go to work the next day, so there is no way I am going to be awake for them.
England have it a bit better with two matches beginning at 11pm and one at midnight and while we can all watch the Saudi Arabia game against Spain that begins at 7pm which hardy souls are going to be awake to see them trounce little Cape Verde at 3am?
These times I have mentioned above are local times in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. In Europe they will all be a couple of hours better but, as we go further East, then to follow your country will be a truly nocturnal event.
This World Cup is being jointly hosted by Mexico, Canada and the US and so it will all be timed to suit their TV audiences, not thought to be the biggest event on the latter two’s sporting calendar. Meanwhile, the rest of the world, who are football mad, are having to turn night into day.
Europe needs to stay up late, East Asia needs to get up early and here we can’t decide whether to have an early sleep and get up or push on through and fall asleep on the sofa halfway through.
And then there is the other problem.
Most of the people who want to watch the games cannot afford to have the relevant pay per view in their homes and so are reliant on seeing the games in cafés, clubs, or lounges which means a lot of them are going to have to stay open throughout the night.
Football is a thing; it affects people in different ways.
I have friends who are quite normal most of the time but put them in front of their favourite team and the madness takes over.
I suspect that these types of individuals will be watching the games no matter what time and will probably just sleep on their desks during the next day. But for the majority of us watching a football match is a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours but, if it is inconvenient, then are we going to bother?
I suspect not, which is why I think this tournament may not quite generate the worldwide viewing figures that Fifa depends on to justify their massive fees.
I am sure the times of matches will suit us a lot more in 2034 when the finals are hosted over the bridge in Saudi Arabia.
Jackie@JBeedie.com
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