England’s round-of-16 World Cup match against Mexico kicks off at 1:00 a.m. BST on Monday, July 6. That timing has created an unlikely clash between football enthusiasm and school attendance policy, with England manager Thomas Tuchel encouraging parents to let kids stay up and Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government firmly insisting that schools will open as normal.

The football drama, briefly

Tuchel made his pitch on July 1, suggesting parents could “write an excuse for school” if their kids stayed up to watch the match. The government treated it like a formal policy proposal anyway.

Education minister Jacqui Smith countered with the suggestion of a “disco nap” on Sunday evening so everyone would be “fresh as a daisy” on Monday. No bank holiday. No school closures. No exceptions.

England advanced through the group stage after beating DR Congo, and the Mexico fixture represents a knockout-round moment for the national team.

Where crypto fits into the World Cup picture

There has been virtually zero public discourse connecting the 2026 World Cup to digital assets, fan tokens, or blockchain betting platforms. No splashy sponsorship announcements from major exchanges. No viral NFT campaigns tied to match outcomes.

The fan token market, pioneered largely by Socios and its Chiliz blockchain, exploded during the 2022 World Cup cycle. Tokens for teams like Argentina, Portugal, and Brazil saw massive pre-tournament rallies followed by predictable crashes.

The 2022 Qatar tournament saw Crypto.com plaster its branding across FIFA events, fan tokens for national teams surged in trading volume, and blockchain-based prediction markets processed millions in wagers.