In a letter to licensing authorities, Michael Gove said "To help make this happen at this unique national moment, we would welcome any additional support you may be able to give to ensure that, for example, where an application is being rapidly considered to allow a short extension to licensing hours".

He continued:

This Sunday, England will play in a football World Cup Final for the first time since 1966 when the Lionesses take on Spain. I am sure you will join me in sending our heartfelt congratulations to the players, management, coaching and support staff who have made this tremendous achievement possible.

We want to do everything we can to make sure people across the country can come together to support the team, enjoy the match and celebrate their success, whatever the outcome. From flying flags, lighting up buildings and supporting communities to hold screenings, local authorities have been at the forefront of supporting the Lionesses. I know you will be doing everything you can to back your communities to get behind the team on Sunday.

As part of that I am sure you will already be considering how to support your local pubs and venues to hold screenings of the final. The final in Sydney, Australia means an 11am BST kick-off and – while many venues will be able to show the game within their usual opening hours – there may be a few who require additional permission where they would like to be able to serve alcohol as well.

To help make this happen at this unique national moment, we would welcome any additional support you may be able to give to ensure that, for example, where an application is being rapidly considered to allow a short extension to licensing hours, the local authority and local police force work closely to enable that to happen, whilst recognising that proportionate enforcement action might still be necessary in some cases. We know local authorities will want to minimise costs to venues, so where delivering this additional support places a new burden on local authorities, additional funding will be provided to acknowledge this. We have also written to policing colleagues to ask them to work with you wherever possible to support your efforts.