Pubs will be allowed to stay open until 2am during the World Cup if any of the home nations make it to the knockout stages.
England and Scotland have already qualified for the tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico, with Wales and Northern Ireland still hoping to reach the finals.
But when kick-off times were first confirmed in December, there were concerns that pubs would be unable to show the games due to the time difference.
The Home Secretary had initially agreed to extend opening hours relax licensing laws only if any of the home nations got beyond the last eight of the tournament.
But Shabana Mahmood has now agreed that pubs can stay open until 2am for all home nation games played beyond the group stage.
Under a temporary relaxing of laws, Ms Mahmood has agreed to extend opening hours until 1am for most knockout games and 2am for those kicking off at 10pm.
Pubs will also be able to apply for a temporary licence for any very late kick-offs that could finish beyond 2am, given the time difference.
It will not be an issue for the first three of England’s matches in the group stage, which begin at 9pm and 10pm.
‘With later kick-offs at this year’s World Cup, we don’t want pubs to blow the final whistle before the winning goal,’ Ms Mahmood said.
‘So we’re showing red tape the red card and taking pub hours to extra time so fans can get another round in without missing a single kick.
‘We’re toasting our boys at the World Cup and our locals this summer. Fans won’t need to go home, before football’s come home.’
The British Beer and Pub Association told The Sun the decision was ‘a win for pubs, jobs and community spirit’.
England and Scotland have already qualified for the tournament, which begins on June 11, while either Wales or Northern Ireland could still join them via the playoffs.
If England win Group L which contains Croatia, Panama and Ghana, their quarter-final on July 1 will start at 5pm.
But the bad news is that victory would mean the last-16 clash would begin on Sunday, July 5 at 1am, meaning pubs would only be allowed to stay open for the first half unless one-off dispensation is granted to go beyond the 2am cut-off.
Both semi-finals start at 8pm and the final on July 19 is the same, which would be optimal for UK audiences.
Start times for matches in the US were moved to different slots for player welfare to avoid oppressive heat, as with the Club World Cup last summer.
That tournament was beset by heat issues, so the marquee matches at the World Cup are set to be in the later slots to aid player welfare.
For example, while the 5pm and 8pm would be the prime time slot for European television audiences, the former kick-off time would equate to a midday kick-off on the east coast of America and the latter would be midday kick-off on the west coast.