LiveScore World Cup 2026 Group Stage Sleep Loss Table: Which Fans Face the Most Sleepless Nights?
LiveScore Features
A North American World Cup was always going to wreak havoc with the sleep schedule, especially for those based in Europe and North Africa.
The time difference between those based in the UK and North Africa compared to those on the east and west coast on the other side of the pond has resulted in a lot of sleepless nights. And that’s not taking into account those based in other areas of the planet. Either way, there will be plenty of World Cup 2026 group stage sleep loss.
In the biggest World Cup in history, there are bleary eyes aplenty as football diehards risk a lack of sleep to watch every game this summer.
And LiveScore analysed all 48 teams’ confirmed World Cup 2026 group-stage fixtures to calculate which fans could face the most sleep disruption using the LiveScore World Cup 2026 Fan Sleep Loss Matrix.
Follow the World Cup 2026 with LiveScore
Now, the World Cup 2026 kick off times will have felt different depending on the time zone you are watching from. For those in the United Kingdom, there are the early evening clashes, the 23:00 starts, and those that kick off at 02:00 GMT. Additionally, there has been the odd match that started at 05:00 GMT.
The closer to North America you are - or in the case of Australia, New Zealand and South Korea, the further away - the range of kick offs will feel significantly easier. We’re talking about the keen ones who are watching through the night and into the morning.
The World Cup fans set to lose the most sleep in the group stage
See the full 48-team sleep table at the bottom of the article
And if you are an Algeria fan watching from your home nation, then you’ve been the hardest hit by the World Cup time zone difference.
Algeria and England operate on the same time zone, meaning their games kick off at the same time as they do in the major cities across the country. The North American time zone means that European and North African nations are the hardest hit by the time difference.
The issue, though, is that Algeria’s three group stage games have all kicked off at unsociable hours. Their 3-0 defeat to Argentina started at 02:00. The 2-1 win over Jordan started at 04:00. Their final group game against Austria doesn’t start until 03:00. Credit where it’s due if you managed to stay up for those three.
Using LiveScore’s World Cup 2026 Fan Sleep Loss Matrix, supporters can expect to lose 8.25 hours of sleep across the three group stage matches. Essentially, fans lose a whole night’s worth across nine days in the group stages.
Scotland among the worst-hit fans, while England avoid the worst of it
It’s a similar story for Tunisia and Scotland, who are both in the same time zone during the summer months.
Yet with the late - or early - kick offs during their respective stays in North America, supporters lose 7.75 hours worth of sleep. Morocco misses out on 7.5 hours of sleep, though have a total of zero disrupted hours’ of sleep, while Iraq, at seven hours, round off the five hardest hit nations.
The Tartan Army are unlikely to mind missing so much sleep, however. 2026 marks Scotland’s first World Cup adventure since France 1998, and you better believe that supporters wouldn’t miss a second of Scotland’s World Cup 2026 fixtures.
What will aggravate Scotland, though, is that England have it far easier at the World Cup 2026. Two of the Three Lions’ opening three matches kicked off at 21:00, while their final group stage meeting with Panama gets underway at 22:00.
Indeed, England ranks 33rd for hours of sleep they could lose, losing just 2.5 hours given the more respectable group stage matches. Staying up for England’s World Cup 2026 fixtures isn’t such a chore.
Which fans face the most disrupted sleeps?
In terms of the most disrupted sleeps at the World Cup 2026, this is led by Algeria. By LiveScore’s definition for the World Cup 2026 Fan Sleep Loss Matrix, this means that the viewing window starts after 23:00 and ends before 07:00.
Rank | Team | Group | Disrupted sleeps | Total sleep opportunity lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Algeria | J | 3 | 8.25 hours |
2 | Tunisia | F | 2 | 7.75 hours |
3 | Iraq | I | 2 | 7.00 hours |
4 | Norway | I | 2 | 6.00 hours |
5 | Czechia | A | 2 | 5.50 hours |
6 | Sweden | F | 2 | 5.50 hours |
7 | DR Congo | K | 2 | 5.50 hours |
8 | Saudi Arabia | H | 2 | 5.50 hours |
And for Algeria, all three group matches take place during the night, meaning supporters would need to set an alarm in order to wake up to watch the Fennecs.
A further seven nations, including Scotland, Norway, Sweden, DR Congo and Saudi Arabia, have two disrupted nights’ sleep prior to the knockout stages, while a further 14 teams have just the one nights’ sleep wrecked.
The remaining 26 - including defending champions Argentina and England - all get away scot-free during the group stages.
World Cup sleep impact rating explained
There are a total of five sleep bands that are used to measure how affected fans will be.
These include:
Sleep friendly | Little or no overlap with the 11pm-7am window
Mild disruption | Some sleep overlap, but still manageable
Late-night watch | Match runs into the usual 11pm-7am sleep window
Serious sleep hit | Major sleep overlap
Sleep killer | Most or all of the viewing window lands inside the usual sleep period
How LiveScore calculated World Cup group stage sleep loss
The LiveScore World Cup 2026 Fan Sleep Loss Matrix is used for the group stage fixtures only.
The model uses a standard 11pm-7am sleep window and measures each world cup fixture as a 2hr 45min viewing window, covering 15 minutes before kick-off, a two-hour match slot and 30 minutes post-match.
Any overlap with the local 11pm-7am window is counted as potential sleep opportunity lost. For countries with multiple time zones, an average of their main civil time zones is used.
“Sleep opportunity lost” means potential disruption rather than confirmed lost sleep.
LiveScore will also refresh the methodology for the Fan Sleep Loss Matrix for the knockout stages of the World Cup 2026.
The most sleep-impacted teams at the World Cup 2026 For best viewing experience on mobile, please tilt your phone to the side.
Rank | Team | Group | Total sleep opportunity lost | Average sleep lost per match | Worst single matchnight | Disrupted sleeps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Algeria | J | 8.25 hours | 2.75 hours | 2.75 hours | 3 |
2 | Tunisia | F | 7.75 hours | 2.58 hours | 2.75 hours | 2 |
3 | Scotland | C | 7.75 hours | 2.58 hours | 2.75 hours | 1 |
4 | Morocco | C | 7.50 hours | 2.50 hours | 2.50 hours | 0 |
5 | Iraq | I | 7.00 hours | 2.33 hours | 2.75 hours | 2 |
6 | Croatia | L | 6.75 hours | 2.25 hours | 2.75 hours | 1 |
7 | Paraguay | D | 6.75 hours | 2.25 hours | 2.75 hours | 1 |
8 | Norway | I | 6.00 hours | 2.00 hours | 2.75 hours | 2 |
9 | Qatar | B | 5.75 hours | 1.92 hours | 2.75 hours | 1 |
10 | Czechia | A | 5.50 hours | 1.83 hours | 2.75 hours | 2 |
11 | Sweden | F | 5.50 hours | 1.83 hours | 2.75 hours | 2 |
12 | DR Congo | K | 5.50 hours | 1.83 hours | 2.75 hours | 2 |
13 | Saudi Arabia | H | 5.50 hours | 1.83 hours | 2.75 hours | 2 |
14 | Iran | G | 5.50 hours | 1.83 hours | 2.75 hours | 1 |
15 | Egypt | G | 5.50 hours | 1.83 hours | 2.75 hours | 1 |
16 | Uzbekistan | K | 4.50 hours | 1.50 hours | 2.75 hours | 1 |
17 | Netherlands | F | 4.25 hours | 1.42 hours | 2.75 hours | 1 |
18 | Austria | J | 4.00 hours | 1.33 hours | 2.75 hours | 1 |
19 | Argentina | J | 4.00 hours | 1.33 hours | 2.50 hours | 0 |
20 | Jordan | J | 3.75 hours | 1.25 hours | 2.25 hours | 0 |
21 | Turkey | D | 3.75 hours | 1.25 hours | 2.25 hours | 0 |
22 | France | I | 3.50 hours | 1.17 hours | 2.50 hours | 0 |
23 | South Africa | A | 3.25 hours | 1.08 hours | 2.75 hours | 1 |
24 | Belgium | G | 3.25 hours | 1.08 hours | 2.25 hours | 0 |
25 | Cape Verde | H | 3.00 hours | 1.00 hours | 2.50 hours | 0 |
26 | Ghana | L | 3.00 hours | 1.00 hours | 2.50 hours | 0 |
27 | Germany | E | 3.00 hours | 1.00 hours | 1.50 hours | 0 |
28 | Australia | D | 2.75 hours | 0.92 hours | 2.75 hours | 1 |
29 | Spain | H | 2.75 hours | 0.92 hours | 2.75 hours | 1 |
30 | Portugal | K | 2.75 hours | 0.92 hours | 2.75 hours | 1 |
31 | Senegal | I | 2.75 hours | 0.92 hours | 2.75 hours | 1 |
32 | Ivory Coast | E | 2.50 hours | 0.83 hours | 2.50 hours | 0 |
33 | England | L | 2.50 hours | 0.83 hours | 1.50 hours | 0 |
34 | Japan | F | 2.25 hours | 0.75 hours | 2.25 hours | 0 |
35 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | B | 1.50 hours | 0.50 hours | 0.50 hours | 0 |
36 | Switzerland | B | 1.50 hours | 0.50 hours | 0.50 hours | 0 |
37 | Colombia | K | 1.00 hours | 0.33 hours | 0.50 hours | 0 |
38 | Brazil | C | 0.50 hours | 0.17 hours | 0.50 hours | 0 |
39 | Haiti | C | 0.50 hours | 0.17 hours | 0.50 hours | 0 |
40 | Uruguay | H | 0.50 hours | 0.17 hours | 0.50 hours | 0 |
41 | Canada | B | 0.00 hours | 0.00 hours | 0.00 hours | 0 |
42 | Curucao | E | 0.00 hours | 0.00 hours | 0.00 hours | 0 |
43 | Ecuador | E | 0.00 hours | 0.00 hours | 0.00 hours | 0 |
44 | Mexico | A | 0.00 hours | 0.00 hours | 0.00 hours | 0 |
45 | New Zealand | G | 0.00 hours | 0.00 hours | 0.00 hours | 0 |
46 | Panama | L | 0.00 hours | 0.00 hours | 0.00 hours | 0 |
47 | South Korea | A | 0.00 hours | 0.00 hours | 0.00 hours | 0 |
48 | USA | D | 0.00 hours | 0.00 hours | 0.00 hours | 0 |
