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World Cup hangover: How late-night matches leave fans anxious, irritable, mentally foggy
14th July, 2026 12:50 AM
When Portugal met Croatia in the Round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Maurice Mulupi, 31, a resident of Kariobangi South, had already made up his mind about who he wanted to win.
An ardent Argentina supporter and lifelong admirer of Lionel Messi, he desperately hoped Croatia would send Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal home. It was less about Croatia and more about settling the age-old rivalry that has divided football lovers for nearly two decades.
The match kicked off long after 3 am. Like millions of football enthusiasts across Africa, Mulupi knew he would barely sleep before the morning alarm sounded. But he couldn’t resist following the match. After all, the World Cup comes only once every four years.
“The excitement of football’s biggest tournament has become impossible to resist, even when every late-night game steals hours of sleep and leaves me paying the price the following day,” he says.
Across Kenya, offices, classrooms and workplaces are quietly feeling the impact of the tournament as supporters sacrifice sleep to catch every match played in North America, where the time difference means many fixtures begin well after midnight East African Time. This is compounded by the tournament’s expanded scale: for the first time, the World Cup features 48 teams playing 104 matches across the United States, Mexico and Canada, up from 64 matches in previous editions, meaning more games spread over more weeks for fans determined not to miss a moment.
Sleep-deprived individuals more likely to make mistakes
The disruption is not unique to Kenya. A recent analysis by The Sleep Charity, which ranked countries by their “World Cup Sleep Tax”, a measure of how disruptive this tournament’s kick-off times are for fans in different time zones, found that supporters in countries such as Algeria, Tunisia, the Czech Republic and Scotland face some of the highest levels of sleep disruption, underlining that this is a global side effect of the tournament’s North American hosting.
“The Portugal-Croatia encounter is one of the matches I simply could not miss. As the minutes ticked by, every Croatian attack filled me with hope while every Portuguese chance made my heart race. By the time the final whistle blew, dawn was only a few hours away,” he describes.
“The following morning felt different because the excitement had faded, replaced by heavy eyelids, sluggish thinking and an overwhelming urge to crawl back into bed. Conversations became harder to follow, ordinary tasks took longer to complete and coffee offered only temporary relief,” he notes.
Dr Cleopa Njiru, a psychologist, explains that the effects extend beyond physical tiredness. “Sleep is the brain’s opportunity to consolidate memories, regulate emotions and clear metabolic waste. When that process is interrupted repeatedly, emotional resilience begins to weaken,” he says.
Insufficient sleep also contributes to stress, anxiety and poorer mental wellbeing, he notes. While occasional late nights are unlikely to cause lasting harm, repeatedly sacrificing sleep over several weeks, as often happens during a month-long World Cup, can accumulate into what scientists call “sleep debt”, which does not disappear simply because someone sleeps longer over the weekend. Instead, the body continues to experience slower thinking, reduced attention span and diminished cognitive flexibility.
The very tournament designed to bring joy can leave some supporters emotionally drained
The mental health consequences may also be more profound than many fans realise. Sleep plays an essential role in regulating neurotransmitters that influence mood.
According to Dr Njiru, when sleep becomes fragmented, irritability rises while positive emotions become harder to sustain. Many people who change their sleep patterns notice themselves becoming unusually impatient after several nights of less sleep, snapping at colleagues or family members over minor inconveniences.
Others report feeling mentally exhausted despite doing little physical activity. “The combination of emotional investment and sleep deprivation creates the perfect environment for mood swings,” Dr Njiru explains. Ironically, the very tournament designed to bring joy can leave some supporters emotionally drained.
He recommends prioritising the most important matches rather than attempting to watch every fixture. Taking short daytime naps, limiting caffeine close to bedtime and maintaining consistent sleep schedules whenever possible can also reduce the impact of disrupted nights.
As the World Cup enters its decisive stages, many Kenyan fans will continue gathering around television screens in homes, restaurants and social venues long after midnight. Mulupi will undoubtedly keep cheering Argentina, while Michael will likely continue negotiating the difficult balance between football and professional responsibility.
Their experiences are reminders that behind every thrilling extra-time winner and dramatic penalty shootout lies another, quieter contest, one taking place inside the human brain and body. For millions of football lovers, the greatest challenge of this World Cup may not be choosing between Messi and Ronaldo, or predicting who lifts the trophy. It may simply be deciding whether the next midnight kick-off is worth another night’s sleep.
