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In April, the government relaxed licensing rules so England and Scotland fans could watch matches in the pub.

Licensing hours were extended from 11pm to 1am for games with kick-offs from 5pm up to 9pm. Pubs can stay open until 2am for kick-offs after 9pm and up to 10pm.

Outside of those rules, pubs can apply to their local council for what’s called a Temporary Event Notice to stay open late, but that has to be submitted no later than 5 working days beforehand, leaving it too late for pubs to apply today.

It’s understood some establishments had plotted England’s potential progress through the tournament and have already applied for and received an event notice.

Emma McClarkin, CEO of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: "We remain in close contact with Government about concerns raised by publicans who want to show the match but haven't got TENs in place.

"It would be a crying shame for fans and pubs if our locals weren't able to host such an important match."

The government has ruled out extending pub opening hours on Sunday to allow fans to watch the England-Mexico game, which kicks off at 1am UK time in Mexico City.

During Business Questions in the House of Commons, Liberal Democrat MP Max Wilkinson asked if the government would consider extending licensing laws on Sunday “so fans can enjoy the game in the pub”.

“Pubs will miss out on a real opportunity to get money in the till if ministers do not make a blanket extension for licensing hours”, Mr Wilkinson said.

Business Minister Kate Dearden ruled out such a move.

“Pubs can stay open for an extra two to three hours depending on how late the match starts, so pubs can still open as the game finishes”

“Regarding Sunday, unfortunately that doesn’t apply with the 1am start but going forwards we are absolutely backing our pubs so people can watch and support our lads, and it’s coming home hopefully”

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Ahem...

Two options, stay up

Or a short nap beforehand

Either way, tiredness.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Let the children watch, or a good night's sleep?

Why not both?

Malmesbury Primary School in Wiltshire are doing exactly that by opening up two hours early at 7am so their students can watch the match spoiler-free in full.

Their head teacher Steve Heal told BBC Radio 5 Live: "We didn't know what was going to happen last night so this plan has formed in our minds this morning.

"Really we're just going to invite the children to arrive at school at 7am if they'd like to, watch the match together in the school hall, we'll give them a bit of breakfast, and we'll be done by 9 o'clock in time to start school.

"That way they're not going to miss a night's sleep and they're not going to miss a morning of school and we'll just ask their parents to not let them know what the result is if they're coming in."

Asked if extra-time and penalties was a concern Mr Heal added: "We can skip over the gaps can't we when we're watching it on catch-up? But, we might not actually get started with our learning until 9:30.

"As a one-off I'll take the Thomas Tuchel route and write them a note making an excuse. It is the World Cup after all. I'm a bit of a Bill Shankly fan on this. Remember he said 'football's not a matter of life or death it's more important than that'.

"We'll all enjoy it together, or, we'll all cry on each others' shoulders afterwards."

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Our colleagues in Millbank have been asking if children will be allowed stay up late to watch England and miss school on Monday after Thomas Tuchel said he wants them to support the team.

Asked if England-supporting kids should be able to bunk off school to watch the match against Mexico in the early hours of Monday morning, the PM's spokeswoman said: "Parents will make their own decisions. I think the Minister for Skills put it well this morning when she said she'd be having a disco nap on Sunday.

"And then watching the match, and then being back at work the following morning. We want everyone to enjoy the game, but children should be in school on Monday."

Asked about the PM's plans specifically, she said: 'He'll be facing the same dilemma as everyone else on whether to stay up. But win or lose, I think millions of England supporters will be at work on Monday and the PM will be doing the same."

Sami Mokbel
BBC Sport Senior football correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

England manager Thomas Tuchel has urged parents to let their children stay up to watch England take on Mexico in the last 16 of the World Cup.

While England's win against DR Congo on Wednesday kicked off at 17:00 BST, the Mexico fixture gets under way at 01:00 BST on Monday.

It will be live on BBC TV, radio and online, but most kids are still waiting for the summer holidays to kick in, leaving parents with a real dilemma on a school night.

Asked for his message to parents, Tuchel said: "Write an excuse for school and let them watch.

"There's so much school to go to, but the World Cup is every four years. Let them watch.

"There will be a big match in four days, and we need the support of everyone, especially the children."

BBC Radio 5 Live

Sleep expert Aarti Jagannath on whether you can catch up on sleep: "There is rebound sleep. You will feel sleepy and the next night's sleep will probably be deeper. An afternoon nap is probably not a bad idea as long as it's not a long nap.

"Catching up through the week is probably not as necessary, the amount of rebound you have the next day will be high but not so much the following days. That rebound is important so try to get a good night's sleep on the following night."

BBC Radio 5 Live

More from sleep expert Aarti Jagannath on how to get to sleep after England's last-16 match finishes: "It is hard when your body is in this highly awake highly tensed up mode to feel sleepy, so maybe jumping straight into bed is not a good idea, but finding a window to wind down, dim the lights, maybe a relaxing book or soothing music, some tea - non-caffeinated.

"Anything that is outside the bedroom but helps you calm down and brings you back to a stage of rest and calm before attempting to go to sleep is probably a good idea."

What will be happening to our bodies watching football through the night? "Several things. At the level of exposure to light, we're seeing light at a time where we're not normally expecting to see it so that tells your body to not turn on the melatonin, so your melatonin drive goes down and therefore you sleepiness drive will go down."

BBC Radio 5 Live

Aarti Jagannath, Associate Professor in Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience at the University of Oxford: "To watch the match most people tend to be slightly later types anyway so staying up to watch it is probably more sensible than setting alarms for 1am and waking up.

"This is a one-off situation, you're not going to be doing this day in and day out. So it probably is less disruptive to our bodies than it would be otherwise. Of course you need to consider this alongside the fact your adrenaline is pumping and dopamine is high.

"So this is really a very different situation to chronic sleep deprivation. This is a one-off and I would say just stay up and enjoy it.

"However, it's important to be aware when you're sleep deprived the next morning happens to be when we're more irritable, our reaction times are slowed, we tend to make more risky, impulsive decisions.

"As long as we're aware that that is the pay off the next morning and we don't plan to do anything such as operating heavy machinery or making any major life decisions, we should be able to cope."