World Cup 26: Weddings Could Get in the Way of Over One Million England Fans Watching the Games
Wedding season is here, and while normally the full focus and attention would solely be on the happy couple, England fans up and down the country will have to make a tough decision this summer, as England World Cup matches could clash with the wedding commitments of over one million supporters.
The research, conducted by TipMan Tips, analysed 25 years of ONS wedding data to determine the average number of weddings that take place on the exact dates of England’s possible World Cup fixtures. These figures were then combined with the average number of guests at a UK wedding (90) to estimate how many Three Lions supporters could miss key matches because of wedding commitments, revealing that more than 80,000 fans may miss the World Cup final.
According to the data, almost 82,000 England fans are set to miss the opening game of the tournament against Croatia on the 17th June, with a further 87,000 people set to miss out on the group stage clash versus Ghana. Some good news for England fans is that the final game of the group stage versus Panama clashes with the fewest number of weddings this summer, as just 58,000 supporters are set to miss out.
The worst day for wedding-World Cup clashes would come if England finish as Runners-Up in their group and make it all the way to the Semi-Final, as more than one thousand weddings are set to take place on the 14th of July, meaning 95,000 Three Lions fans would miss out.
Here is the full list of potential England fixtures along with the number of weddings set to take place on that day and the number of supporters who’d be attending:
| Date | Match | Number of weddings since 1999 | Average number of weddings on that day | Supporters who will miss the game |
| 14th July | Semi-Final (Runners-Up) | 26,465 | 1,059 | 95,274 |
| 15th July | Semi Final(Group Winners) | 25,371 | 1,015 | 91,336 |
| 1st July | Round of 32(Group Winners) | 24,643 | 986 | 88,715 |
| 23rd June | Ghana | 24,222 | 969 | 87,199 |
| 10th July | Quarter-Final (Runners-Up) | 23,445 | 938 | 84,402 |
| 17th June | Croatia | 22,733 | 909 | 81,839 |
| 19th July | Final | 22,708 | 908 | 81,749 |
| 3rd July | Round of 32(Runners-Up) | 21,894 | 876 | 78,818 |
| 6th July | Round of 16(Group Winners) | 20,884 | 835 | 75,182 |
| 6th July | Round of 16(Runners-Up) | 20,884 | 835 | 75,182 |
| 11th July | Quarter-Final(Group Winners) | 16,303 | 652 | 58,691 |
| 27th June | Panama | 16,132 | 645 | 58,075 |
As for what England fans should be hoping for this summer, if England finish first in their group, 623,000 supporters would miss out on at least one game if England reach the final, whereas if they finish as Runners-Up, 643,000 fans would miss at least one match.
All the more reason to hope England gets off to a good start for any England fan attending a wedding this summer…
One groom is already standing firm against any distractions on the big day, as Leeds United season ticket holder Luke has informed guests attending his wedding on the 23rd of June, the same day as England’s World Cup clash with Ghana, that there will be no big screens showing the game. Guests have already enquired whether they’ll be allowed to stream it on their phones.
A spokesperson for the team at TipMan Tips commented on the research: “This research really brings home just how many people could end up caught in a Wedding vs World Cup dilemma, especially with wedding season and tournament football overlapping almost perfectly this year.
“More than 80,000 fans potentially missing England play in a World Cup Final because they’re at a wedding will definitely cause a lot of heated discussions this summer, with some compromises hopefully being made for all those England fans out there.”