After the final whistle, you have to decide: do you try to sleep for two hours or just embrace the zombie lifestyle? Most of us go to bed, only to find our brains replaying a dodgy offside decision on loop. You wake up feeling like you’ve run a marathon, but you’ve only run to the kettle three times.
You stumble into work or your morning routine with dark circles under your eyes, muttering “Japan played well, but the timing was a nightmare.” People think you’re talking about the team’s strategy. You’re actually talking about your own disastrous sleep schedule. It’s a shared joke among football fans, a secret handshake made of tired grins and cold coffee.
So, when you see the England V Japan kick-off time pop up on your calendar, laugh about it. You know you’ll be there, bleary-eyed and full of hope, arguing with a commentator about a yellow card. It’s a terrible, wonderful, exhausting tradition. And honestly? You wouldn’t trade it for a full night’s sleep. Well, maybe for one full night’s sleep. But not during a World Cup.
