World Cup final to be screened in London if England makes final

London to screen World Cup if England makes final

London City Hall will organise a screening of the World Cup final should England beat Argentina in Wednesday night's semi-final, the BBC understands.

The O2 Arena - which staged a similar viewing for the Euro 2024 final between England and Spain - is believed to be the most likely venue.

There has been some discontent among London football fans that no official screening has been arranged for the England v Argentina game.

The last time England men reached the World Cup semi-finals in 2018, City Hall and the government ran a ballot through which 30,000 fans were able to claim a ticket to watch the match on big screens in Hyde Park.

On that occasion the fixture coincided with Hyde Park's series of summer music events. With the park already in operational mode that year, and with no event scheduled for the night of the England v Croatia match, little organisation was required.

This year though the park's summer series is already over and it is believed there was not enough time to safely organise such a large scale gathering, with England's semi-final presence only guaranteed in the early hours of Sunday morning after an extra-time win over Norway.

On the absence of a screening for Wednesday's semi-final, City Hall said: "Like all Londoners, the mayor has been blown away by England's incredible run to the semi-finals of the Fifa World Cup.

"There are no plans for a screening of the match against Argentina but the mayor hopes the team go all the way to lift the trophy in New York next Sunday."

They said the mayor was instead "encouraging Londoners to join together on Wednesday night in the capital's pubs, clubs, bars and hospitality venues to cheer on England to victory while supporting the hospitality industry".

It's also understood that Tuesday 21 July is currently the preferred date that organisers would stage a London victory celebration if England do go all the way and win the trophy.

The final in New York/New Jersey kicks off at 20:00 BST on Sunday and would end at around 23:00 if it was to go all the way to penalties.

City Hall, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Westminster City Council and the FA would all be involved in the organisation of a parade, which would likely draw the largest crowd for a sporting celebration that the UK has ever seen.

There are of course two very difficult matches for Thomas Tuchel's side to win if a victory parade is to be required, but the relevant authorities have to get plans in place in case.

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