New data from Square, the global payments company, shows that Britain’s pubs and bars have benefited significantly from the 2026 World Cup.
Brits brought their snack game to the tournament with many getting into the American spirit driving a 52% increase in hot dogs sales during the World Cup period. Other fans remained traditional but also went for full meals, opting for steak (12% uplift in items sold), fish and chips (8% increase in items sold) and roast dinners (6% rise in items sold) during the tournament.
The top food items bought across the tournament were:
Hot dogs: 52% uplift in items sold
Chips: 13% uplift in items sold
Steak: 12% uplift in items sold
Burgers: 12% uplift in items sold
Pizza: 11% uplift in items sold
Nachos: 11% uplift in items sold
Scampi fries: 9% uplift in items sold
Fish and chips: 8% uplift in items sold
Crisps: 7% uplift in items sold
Onion rings: 6% uplift in items sold
Roast dinners: 6% uplift in items sold
Kebab: 5% uplift in items sold
As expected, Brits mostly drank lager (+33%) and cider (+33%). There was also a 10% increase in non-alcoholic beer sales across the tournament.
Overall, pubs and bars saw a 3.5% uplift in transactions during the tournament. Across England’s eight match days combined, pubs and bars took 35% more transactions than on equivalent normal weekdays.
England’s World Cup semi-final game against Argentina on Wednesday 15th July gave pubs and bars their biggest single-day lift of the tournament, with transactions up 145% on the day and late-night trade (10pm-2am) up 97%.
Pubs, bars and restaurants in London (+10%) Leeds (+10%), and Southampton (+6%) saw the largest revenue lift across England’s major cities during the tournament.
John O’Beirne, CEO of Square International, commented: “Our transaction tracking during the World Cup has shown strong demand for both snacks and full meals from fans enjoying the football. It shows that consumers want more than just a pint while watching sport, and the pubs and bars that catered for this during the World Cup were on to a winner.
“The World Cup has been a great kick-off for this season’s hospitality and we expect this to continue as Brits enjoy socialising over the summer.”
