Wimbledon issue statement on letting fans watch World Cup amid David Beckham appearance

Wimbledon fans and VIPs have been discouraged from watching the World Cup while attending the tennis tournament.

Although the majority of sports fans across the globe will be focused on the drama of the World Cup knockout fixtures in North America, many will also be keeping a close eye on South West London.

Less than 24 hours after the first World Cup knockout game, Wimbledon officially got underway in London, with the annual tennis tournament set to take place over 14 days from Monday June 29 to Sunday July 12.

Every year over half a million people attend Wimbledon to watch the biggest players in the world compete for one of the most prestigious trophies in tennis, including several celebrities and VIPs.

During the opening day, England and Manchester United legend Sir David Beckham was among the celebs treated to a seat in the royal box on Centre Court, alongside his mum.

Of course, Beckham, who has flown in from the US where he has been spotted at a number of World Cup matches, and thousands of other fans will be wondering how they can keep up to date with the World Cup action while at Wimbledon.

But, unfortunately for them, Wimbledon's chief executive has confirmed that matches at the World Cup will not be shown on screens around the grounds, with VIPs in the royal box discouraged from keeping up to date with the football.

"We're not going to be showing the football on any of the big screens around the grounds," confirmed Sally Bolton OBE, Chief Executive of the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

"But clearly, if people have got their phones, then we're not going to prevent people from watching the football."

When asked about stopping VIPs in the royal box, like Beckham, from watching on their phones, Bolton added: "We do discourage people in the royal box from using their phones anyway."

The news will be particularly frustrating for England fans attending the tennis on Wednesday as the likes of world no.1 Jannik Sinner's second could clash with the Three Lions round of 32 clash with DR Congo.

England's knockout tie is scheduled to kick off at 17:00 BST at the Atlanta Stadium in Georgia.

READ MORE: Wimbledon fans can still get last-minute tickets without queueing

However, despite Bolton's protests, it's likely going to be impossible to stop fans from tuning in, as demonstrated during England’s Euros penalty shootout against Switzerland at Euro 2024.

As fans at Centre Court watched the match during Novak Djokovic's match against Alexei Popyrin, play was halted as Djokovic smiled while pretending to take a spot-kick while Popyrin put up his hands to make the imaginary save.

Which celebrities will attend Wimbledon 2026?

Alongside Beckham, Sir Cliff Richard, Tess Daly, Niall Horan and Dame Mary Berry were among the celebrities watching Wimbledon day one .

Of course, Princess Kate Middleton, who is the the official Patron of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and its charitable arm, the LTA Foundation, will be attending Wimbledon alongside several royals.

As to who else will attend, it's impossible to speculate but the likes of Sir Lewis Hamilton, Tom Cruise, Zendaya, Tom Holland and Olivia Rodrigo have all been spotted at Centre Court in recent years.