UK police confirm huge England fan arrest numbers at 2026 World Cup

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Cameron Smith | Digital Content Producer

Accredited sports journalist covering football since 2020

A total of 88 England fans have been arrested in the UK since the start of the 2026 World Cup, a police report has confirmed.

The Three Lions booked their place in the last-16 after a narrow 2-1 victory over DR Congo on Wednesday, with captain Harry Kane netting a late brace after Brian Cipenga had opened the scoring in the seventh minute.

It has been widely reported that the behaviour of England fans in the USA has been excellent throughout the tournament, although it has been a different story entirely in the UK.

In a statement released ahead of England’s 2-0 win over Panama, the London Ambulance Service posted on X: “We're calling on England fans to enjoy the FIFA World Cup game vs Panama safely on Saturday.

“We saw a 50% surge in 999 calls and an increase in alcohol-related assaults after the last match against Ghana. Your actions can help us reduce the number of avoidable ambulance callouts.”

Meanwhile, as of Monday 29 June, before the aforementioned victory against DR Congo, there had been 463 football related incidents in England and Wales. By comparison, at this stage of Euro 2024 there were 304 incidents, while there were only 291 at the 2022 World Cup.

Furthermore, 88 people have been arrested since the beginning of the tournament, which is once again an increase on Euro 2024 (66) and the 2022 World Cup (56).

UK police respond to England fan behaviour

In response to the current arrest numbers, Chief Constable Mark Roberts, head of UK Football Policing, said: “The behaviour of England fans – and of course the Scots- has been excellent throughout the group stages of the World Cup.

“In our pre-briefs we stressed to local law enforcement the positive record of our fans at recent World Cups, and it is great to see that continuing and the fans being policed according to their behaviour, not an outdated reputation.

“While the picture abroad has been predictably positive, sadly it’s predictably challenging domestically, as the figures show.

“To keep it in context we have not seen large scale disorder, but given the team has successfully negotiated the group stage it is disappointing that we have seen increased incidents associated to alcohol consumption and domestic abuse. I would urge anyone who suffers domestic abuse to contact the police who will support you.”