The World Cup is underway, and for many people that means one thing: football as it is meant to be experienced — with other people. In a pub, at home with friends, in a fan zone, or lucky enough to be at a game. I have always thought there is something important about sport watched together. It gives people permission to feel things loudly in public, which is not always a bad thing.
Of course, it also gives people permission to drink. In England and Wales, pubs may be allowed to stay open until 2am if a home nation reaches the knockout stages [1]. This has been welcomed by parts of the hospitality industry and viewed rather more cautiously by police. Both responses are understandable. Football, alcohol, national identity and late nights are not a mild combination.
The reason people drink during big matches is not difficult to understand. High-stakes sport is stressful. Anyone who watched England in a penalty shoot-out knows this without needing a laboratory. Heart rate rises, adrenaline rises, attention narrows, and the body behaves as though something important is happening because, psychologically, it is.
This is also quite well studied. During the Euro ’96 tournament in the UK, researchers found an increase in hospital admissions for heart problems after England’s penalty shoot-out loss [2]. A German study during the 2006 World Cup similarly found that national team matches, especially the tense ones, were associated with increased cardiovascular strain [3]. I do not mention this to frighten anyone. The point is simply that watching sport is not passive. The body participates.
Alcohol is often used to take the edge off that state. It can do this initially by enhancing GABA, the brain’s main calming system. That is one of the reasons alcohol has had such a central place in human social life. It reduces inhibition and tension and helps people feel more at ease with each other.
But alcohol is not a precise tool. It also affects judgement, coordination, emotion and sleep. In the context of football, where people are already excited, anxious, elated or furious, it can sometimes amplify the very things it was meant to soften. Add a long evening, a hot room, little food, and several rounds bought too quickly, and the pharmacology can get away from you.
There is another factor worth remembering this summer: heat. Many of the World Cup matches in the United States are being played in very high temperatures, with concerns already raised about player and spectator safety during daytime fixtures. Even if you are watching from the UK, we are increasingly experiencing periods of hot weather ourselves, and crowded pubs, fan zones and gardens can become surprisingly dehydrating environments. Alcohol is a poor choice for quenching thirst. If you are already warm, sweating and excited, your body needs fluid first. A pint may feel refreshing, but it is not the same thing as properly rehydrating.
This does not mean people should not enjoy a drink during the World Cup. I am not a prohibitionist. Shared rituals matter, and football is one of the great modern rituals. But the sensible question is not “drink or don’t drink?” It is: what effect do I want, and how do I avoid overshooting it?
My World Cup advice
- Don’t drink alcohol to quench thirst. Have water, a soft drink, or an alcohol-free option first, especially if you have been outside in the heat.
- Eat before the match, ideally something with protein, fat and slow-release carbohydrate.
- Alternate drinks. One alcoholic drink, then one non-alcoholic drink, is a simple rule that works.
- Don’t pre-load at home before going out. It is much too easy to arrive already past the point you intended.
- Avoid energy drinks as mixers. Caffeine can make people drink more and faster.
- If the weather is hot, make a conscious effort to hydrate throughout the day rather than trying to catch up later.
- If you feel the match is making you tense, treat the tension first: breathe, walk, talk to someone, or step outside for a few minutes.
Enjoy the football. Enjoy the company. Just try not to let the drink become the main event.
—Professor David Nutt
References
[1] The Independent, “Police boss admits he’s unhappy with World Cup drinking laws,” 2026.
[2] Carroll D. et al., “Admissions to hospital for myocardial infarction and World Cup football: database survey,” BMJ, 2002.
[3] Wilbert-Lampen U. et al., “Cardiovascular Events during World Cup Soccer,” New England Journal of Medicine, 2008.
[4] Ettinger P.O. et al., “Arrhythmias and the ‘Holiday Heart’: alcohol-associated cardiac rhythm disorders,” American Journal of Cardiology, 1978.
[5] Voskoboinik A. et al., “Acute alcohol consumption and arrhythmias in healthy adults,” European Heart Journal, 2024.
[6] Amit S.R. et al., “Alcohol’s effects on aggressive behaviour in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of cumulative alcohol administration,” Physiology & Behavior, 2024.
