By Francis Onyach - Sports journalist and pundit based in Kenya.
Kenya, 6 June 2026 - The 2026 FIFA World Cup is set to be unlike anything football has ever seen.
Hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, it will feature 48 teams, a record number of matches, and an audience expected to reach billions around the globe. For football lovers, it promises a month of unforgettable moments, dramatic storylines, and the kind of spectacle only the World Cup can deliver.
Yet for millions of fans across Africa, there is a less glamorous side to the excitement.
While North American supporters prepare to enjoy matches at comfortable afternoon and evening hours, many African viewers could find themselves facing a very different reality, one defined by alarm clocks, sleepless nights, and exhausted mornings.
The challenge is simple: geography.
With most matches taking place in North American time zones, several of the tournament's biggest fixtures are likely to kick off during the early hours of the morning across much of Africa. A prime-time match in cities such as Los Angeles, Dallas, or New York could easily begin at a time when most people in Nairobi, Kampala, Dar es Salaam, Addis Ababa, or Kigali would normally be fast asleep.
Ordinarily, missing a football match is not a major problem. Highlights exist. Social media clips appear within minutes. Match reports are available everywhere.
The World Cup is different.
It is one of the few sporting events where fans feel compelled to experience history as it happens. The drama of a last-minute winner, the shock of an upset, or the brilliance of a once-in-a-generation performance loses something when consumed hours later.
Football's biggest moments are often shared moments.
They unfold live across television screens, social media feeds, WhatsApp groups, and conversations among friends. Watching later rarely feels the same.
That reality creates a dilemma for African supporters.
Do you go to bed and catch the highlights in the morning? Or do you stay awake until 4 a.m. to watch a group-stage match because it might produce the tournament's defining moment?
For many fans, the answer is already obvious. They will stay up. And that is where the real impact begins.
Unlike players, coaches, and broadcasters, most supporters do not get a month off for the World Cup. The tournament will arrive in the middle of normal life. Offices will still open. Schools will still operate. Businesses will still expect results.
The excitement of a dramatic match can easily carry someone through the early hours of the morning. The challenge comes a few hours later when the workday begins.
Anyone who has tried to function after only three or four hours of sleep knows the effects. Concentration drops. Simple tasks take longer. Energy levels fade. Decision-making becomes slower. The body may tolerate it for a night or two, but a month-long tournament presents a different challenge altogether.
This is why major sporting events have long fascinated economists and workplace analysts. The impact may be impossible to quantify precisely, but it is difficult to imagine that millions of sleep-deprived football fans arriving at work each morning would have no effect at all.
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World Cup fever rarely stays confined to stadiums.
It follows people into offices, classrooms, shops, and boardrooms. Conversations drift toward results and refereeing decisions. Productivity competes with post-match analysis. Coffee sales probably rise alongside tournament excitement.
Of course, football supporters have never been known for choosing convenience over passion.
Fans routinely wake up before sunrise to watch matches. They gather in viewing centres at impossible hours. They structure entire weekends around football schedules. The World Cup simply amplifies that devotion on a global scale.
African fans, in particular, have repeatedly demonstrated that distance and inconvenience are rarely enough to weaken their connection to the game. Whether supporting African representatives or global giants such as Argentina, Brazil, England, France, or Spain, they continue to invest emotionally in every moment. That is unlikely to change in 2026.
If anything, the expanded format and increased number of matches may make the tournament even harder to resist.
The irony is that while the World Cup is designed to bring the world together, fans around the globe will experience it very differently. For some, it will be an evening entertainment event. For others, it will be a test of endurance.
African supporters may ultimately face both.
The football will be spectacular. The atmosphere will be unforgettable. The memories will last for years.
The sleep, however, may not.
When the first whistle blows in North America in a few days, millions of African fans will once again prove why they are among the most passionate supporters in world football. They will set alarms, survive sleepless nights, and somehow make it through the following day.
Because when the World Cup comes around, the question is rarely whether fans will watch.
It is how much they are willing to sacrifice to do so.
The write is an accomplished sports journalist based in Kenya. He comments on topical issues.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Dawan Africa.