hey are the World Cup bats. While three-quarters of the French population are sleeping soundly, Reda, Luis, and Simon are enduring the biggest late-night matches of the 2026 World Cup , such as Austria-Jordan, New Zealand-Iran, and Ghana-Panama, at infamous hours ranging from midnight to 6:00 a.m. A masochistic ritual from the outside, but one fueled by undisguised pleasure for those involved, who are driven by an unconditional love for their sport. "I've followed football since I was a kid, and every World Cup, I challenge myself to watch all the matches," says Reda, 32. " This World Cup reminds me of the one in Brazil in 2014, with its sometimes difficult viewing times."
Luis, for his part, is thrilled to discover new matchups. "What I love about major tournaments is seeing teams I don't know and may never see again. I was happy to see Haiti-Scotland, and in the end, I thought it was a great match. Turkey-Paraguay, on Saturday at 6 a.m., is going to be great too." In any case, the night isn't a problem. So what if it means less sleep, as long as the matches are seen?
Survivalist sleep, coffee and energy drinks
The issue of sleep is paramount, however. During the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, a 25-year-old Chinese man died of a heart attack after staying up two all-nighters to watch the matches. While Simon, a student retraining for a new career, has no problem – “I’m in great shape, I get up between 10 a.m. and noon depending on when the last match finishes” – Luis manages his sleep in survival mode, like a Vendée Globe skipper , minus the freeze-dried food.
Normally, I sleep between 4 and 6 hours a night. I try to maintain my normal rhythm, except that I spread my sleep hours throughout the day. As soon as I have the opportunity to sleep for an hour, I take it, whether it's during a lunch break, between matches, or when I get off work. ”
Despite his well-rehearsed plan, this banker, a Portugal supporter , experiences inevitable energy dips in the afternoon. "In those cases, I have a coffee and I'm good to go." Reda, on the other hand, leans more towards energy drinks when he needs a boost during those sleepless moments at night. "The hardest part is the break that pulls you out of the game, especially when it's at 4 or 6 a.m., or the hour between matches." Currently preparing for the competitive exam to become a history and geography teacher, he takes advantage of these lulls to read a chapter when he's not playing video games.
For Luis, however, the question doesn't arise: every break is an opportunity to grab some sleep. "I set my alarms five minutes before the start of matches, just enough to be able to wake up." In his happiness, he is fortunate to share his life with a partner whose sleep is undisturbed, and whom neither light nor the noise of the television can break.
"At 6 a.m., the birds are singing and you're watching a football match."
The other thorny question remains: what about social and personal life? Not really a problem, according to Simon. "If we can't watch the matches live with our friends, we follow them by sending each other voice messages. The only thing that's slightly affected is that, living with my mother, we don't see each other much because of her work shifts." Reda shares this view. Sure, there's that date he's been putting off for two weeks because "the World Cup only comes around once every four years, and I might be dead or have a baby by the next one," but he's far from lonely, if only because his best friend shares his 100% World Cup obsession.
The future history and geography teacher, however, describes this feeling of being out of sync at the end of the night. "The hardest is definitely the 6 a.m. match, like Australia vs. Turkey or Austria vs. Jordan, because while watching the game, you feel like you're outside of time and society. It's daylight, the birds are making noise, you hear the sounds of people starting their day, and you're watching a football match." And what if that's what it means to be madly in love?
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