Due to late kick-off times
Public viewing ban at the World Cup? decision made
March 25, 2026 – 12:20 p.mReading time: 1 min.
Because of the late kick-off times, public viewing events at the World Cup were in jeopardy. Now the federal cabinet has made a decision.
Football fans can also look forward to public viewing events during this year’s World Cup. In Berlin, the Federal Cabinet decided on the necessary exceptions to the normally applicable noise protection rules. This means that public broadcasts of games will also be possible after 10 p.m. – if the states in the Federal Council also agree. But that can be assumed.
“Cities and municipalities have the opportunity to approve public viewing events despite the time difference – hopefully even with a final on July 19th with German participation,” explained Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD), who is responsible for noise protection.
The World Cup will take place from June 11th to July 19th in Canada, Mexico and the USA. When making decisions regarding public viewing, the local authorities must weigh up the public interest in broadcasting the games and the neighborhood’s need for protection in terms of noise. According to the information, comparable regulations have existed since the 2006 World Cup.
In contrast to previous events, the proportion of games that take place at night is particularly high, explained the Ministry of the Environment. In Germany, nighttime is the period from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. The four most common kick-off times are 9 p.m. (19 games), 3 a.m. (12 games), 10 p.m. (10 games) and midnight (9 games).
The German national team’s three preliminary round games begin at 7 p.m. and two games at 10 p.m. The final, semi-final and game for third place start at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. respectively.
