Today's Edition
MUDHI ALOBTHANI, BATOOL GHAITH AND YOUSUF SAIFUDDIN (ABU DHABI)
FIFA World Cup fever has gripped the UAE, and football fans can’t sit still: Many stay up past midnight while others buy new TVs, all to watch their favourite teams and players light up the pitch.
Ahmed Salah, a UAE resident rooting for Portugal and its star striker Cristiano Ronaldo, wouldn’t mind cutting his sleep to just five hours if it means catching a match.
“I would take a short nap in the evening to catch up on rest,” Salah told Aletihad. “This helps me enjoy the matches without significantly affecting my daily schedule.”
Salah has already mapped out his calendar, planning to watch matches with friends and family, either at home or outside.
Mohammed Al Mansoori, another football fan in the UAE, has rearranged his work schedule around his favourite team’s matches. “If the game is late at night, I take a break to watch it,” he said.
Theyab Alobthani, backing Argentina, takes a more measured approach, prioritising work over late-night matches, but exceptions remain. “If it’s an important match, I will stay up and watch it live,” he said.
This balancing act between football and work is playing out across the region. A recent survey by recruitment platform GulfTalent found that employers across the Middle East were bracing for a wave of tired, distracted, and occasionally absent staff, as the tournament pulls workers into late nights and early mornings in front of screens.
The tournament — jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19 — airs matches between 8pm and 8am local time, with most games clustering around midnight.
Polling 1,200 professionals across nine countries, including the UAE, GulfTalent found that 84% plan to watch at least some matches. Nearly half of that group intend to stay awake through the night for the fixtures that matter most to them, while the rest will either stick to matches before midnight or catch up on highlights the next day.
Asked how a late night match would affect their following workday, 45% of respondents — mostly those sticking to evening games — said it would not affect them at all.
Some expect the late nights to take some toll on the workday after: roughly a third said they’d show up running on less sleep, while smaller numbers of less than 10% plan to start late, work from home, or take the day off entirely.
Making a Big Purchase
For others, rearranging their schedule isn’t enough, with a fan going as far as buying a TV for the first time.
Dubai resident Suhaib Hiyasat recently bought his first-ever TV, specifically for the tournament.
“I did not have a TV before. I decided this is the right time to purchase one. I am very excited to watch matches on a big screen at my house,” he told Aletihad.
For Hiyasat, the World Cup is a chance to gather with friends and family at home and soak in the atmosphere together, rather than watching matches alone on smaller screens.
Retailers had also seen a spike in interest for premium viewing setups in the run-up to the tournament, particularly TVs with larger screens and advanced display technology.
Vineet Kumar, Head of the Visual Display Division at Samsung Gulf Electronics, said major sporting events typically push consumers to upgrade their home entertainment setups, especially when they’re planning to watch with family and friends.
“These tournaments create a unique viewing occasion, and many consumers see it as the ideal time to invest in a larger screen and a more immersive entertainment experience,” he said.
The appetite isn’t limited to households either, as cafés, restaurants, hotels and sports venues have also been seeking ways to enhance the viewing experience for guests during the tournament. “Major international football tournaments are among the few global events that bring together households, communities and businesses at scale,” Kumar said.
Jumbo Electronics has seen similar interest since the start of 2026, particularly for sets in the 75-inch to 98-inch range. “We expect demand to strengthen further as customers upgrade their viewing setups for the tournament,” said Paul Thachil, CEO of Jumbo Group.
Uniting the Community
Beyond the sleepless nights and the new TVs, the World Cup carries something less material for UAE residents. These matches, they said, bring the community together.
Talal Obaid, a die-hard Brazil supporter, said the tournament captures the spirit of the UAE’s multicultural population.
“In the UAE, there are people from all over the world. During the World Cup, everyone comes together even if they support different teams — it’s all about football,” he said.
