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Millions of us will gather in pub gardens and living rooms around the land today in the hope that Harry Kane & Co will fire England into a World Cup semi-final.
But with England’s Miami showdown against Norway not scheduled until 10pm UK time, fans will have a whole day in the blistering sunshine to, ahem, prepare the nerves for Erling Haaland’s onslaught.
For many that means getting the rounds in from lunchtime onwards.
But what is a day’s hard boozing in the heat likely to do to your body?
Sally Adams, associate professor in psychology at the University of Birmingham – and an expert on alcohol and hangovers – says the first hours of the early afternoon are likely to bring an initial swell of relaxation.
As alcohol accumulates in the bloodstream, it begins to switch off the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for complex thinking (and worrying about England’s right-back crisis).
‘Because of the brain chemicals it releases, alcohol is perfectly designed to help you unwind,’ says Dr Adams. ‘Those first couple of drinks feel great because one of the first parts of the brain to be affected is the prefrontal cortex which does all your decision-making, and thinking about what you’ve got to do tomorrow. That’s slowly shutting down, essentially.’
But this only applies to your first few Aperol spritzes. As you plough on later into the afternoon and evening, alcohol will begin to affect other regions of the brain, including those linked to language and co-ordination, which is why people start to slur their speech and become more at risk of falling.
‘Alcohol is quite a dirty drug, because it touches lots of different chemical systems in our brain,’ says Matthew Parker, associate professor of neuroscience at the University of Surrey.
‘It acts like a stimulant because it affects systems that cause you to feel more energised. But at higher concentrations, it slows reaction times down, impairs concentration and causes poor judgment.’
With England’s Miami showdown against Norway not scheduled until 10pm UK time, for many that means getting the rounds in from lunchtime onwards
Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham... the point is to watch tonight's match rather than drink yourself under the table and pass out before kick-off
Should pubs and fans take more responsibility for tackling binge drinking during big football matches?
This, of course, is why pub evenings often end in a 2am kitchen disco with Harry Styles blasting out of the Alexa speakers. But binge drinking before an England quarter-final in baking heat may be more harmful than falling out over Spotify playlists.
For middle-aged adults, the blend of alcohol and heat-related dehydration can stress the heart, say experts, with the risk ramping up once the match starts.
‘During the England-Mexico game, my heart rate was extremely elevated and that’s because the sympathetic nervous system [the part of the nervous system activated when you’re stressed] speeds it up,’ says Dr Parker.
‘Acute high levels of alcohol also affect the electrical signalling within the heart. If you’re 21, the chances are that your heart can deal with a little bit of stress, but for susceptible people, the combination can be an issue.’
Studies have shown that watching football matches is linked to a greater risk of fatal and non-fatal heart attacks, particularly in men. According to Dr Parker, the combination can also trigger atrial fibrillation, a condition where the heart’s upper chambers start to beat chaotically and out of control.
Beware the alcohol-induced volatility of other fans too. It’s well known that binge drinking can exacerbate aggression because it changes the way we perceive the emotions of others.
Dr Adams points to studies which reveal the higher the level of intoxication, the more likely a person is to misinterpret facial expressions: ‘It’s behind this whole “Are you looking at me?” thing,’ she says. ‘It’s because your brain mischaracterises a face as being angry.’
It’s also worth noting that our capacity to handle binge drinking varies from person to person depending on genetics, liver function, muscle mass, stomach contents and how frequently we drink. For some individuals, higher blood alcohol concentrations have a greater effect more quickly – and we should be aware of the warning signs when someone is in serious trouble.
‘If someone’s been drinking all day and they’re very confused, and their slurring is so bad that they can’t speak or pick themselves up at all, you should ring an ambulance,’ says Dr Adams. Overall, however, the body has a remarkable capacity for recovery and Dr Parker says one episode of binge drinking is unlikely to have long-term effects. Instead, it will yield a hangover with symptoms including headaches and anxiety, which can persist for a few days.
Some of this is because alcohol disrupts the later stages of sleep, which is especially the case with binge drinking because the body will still be metabolising the day’s alcohol throughout the night.
David Cox says experts recommend plenty of sleep the night before... so hopefully you went to bed at a good time last night
What’s more, while it initially changes the production of brain chemicals in a way that makes you feel more relaxed and ‘buzzed’, your brain is then depleted in many of these chemicals over the following days, resulting in low mood, restlessness and anxiety.
Binge drinking can also weaken the immune system for 24 hours or more, which is why you might find yourself catching a summer cold in the days after the match.
Sam Royle, a hangover researcher at the University of Salford, explains that the immune system’s ongoing response to a toxin called acetaldehyde, a by-product produced when the liver metabolises alcohol, is behind post-binge symptoms such as fever and nausea.
‘When you binge drink, it leads to this sustained inflammatory response [from the immune system],’ he says.
So what can we do to minimise the pain of the morning after?
Firstly, you should get plenty of sleep the night before (so hopefully you went straight to bed after Spain’s clash with Belgium at 8pm last night). Dr Adams also suggests an early afternoon power nap on Saturday to compensate for your disrupted sleep to come.
Before starting drinking today, she also advises lining your stomach with a lunch filled with protein, fat and carbohydrate – think ‘all you can eat’ carvery rather than a light sandwich.
This is because the big meal will close the valves at the bottom of the stomach, ensuring that alcohol is processed more slowly into the intestines and then the bloodstream, lessening its impact.
Most importantly, says Dr Parker, in order to reduce alcohol’s effects on your heart and brain after drinking all day, it’s key to avoid your peak blood alcohol concentrations getting too high.
A way of doing this is sticking to beer rather than wine or spirits, and in particular, lower-strength beers like the so-called session IPAs which are 3-5 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV). Sam Royle says spirits are best avoided because they’re not only stronger, but when incorporated with a mixer people consume them faster.
‘The quantity of liquid is no longer a limiting factor,’ he says. ‘With mixers, you can take in quite a lot of spirit in a relatively short amount of time. I know there are people who can down a beer in eight seconds or whatever, but if you do that for a few beers, your stomach’s going to feel quite full.’
Likewise, the strength of the typical glass of wine ranges from 5 per cent to 20 per cent ABV, while the alcohol is contained in a far smaller volume of liquid compared with beer.
Dr Parker suggests alternating alcoholic drinks with soft drinks or alcohol-free beers, as well as drinking as much water as possible.
While buying rounds tends to be the social custom when watching the football, he says that they’re actually best avoided.
‘Don’t try to keep up with other people,’ he says. ‘It’s a really bad idea as everyone’s metabolism is slightly different, and their body clears alcohol at their own pace.’
Of course no one likes the fun police and none of this should put a dampener on what promises to be a glorious day of sporting anticipation. But the point is to watch the match rather than drink yourself under the table and pass out before kick-off.