Football supporters were unable to pay by card during England's second World Cup fixture after a power failure hit Worldpay, one of the globe's biggest payment processing platforms. The disruption struck during England's group stage match against Ghana, as thousands of fans gathered at live screenings and pubs nationwide.
Power grid failure causes transaction issues
Worldpay, which handles transactions for major retailers including Tesco and Asda, stated that a problem with a power grid triggered a temporary blackout that impacted transaction approvals across some of its systems on Tuesday evening. The company's website said: "A third-party power disruption is causing intermittent transaction authorisation issues on some Worldpay platforms. Some transaction authorisations and tokenisation requests may result in an error or be declined. Our technical teams are engaged and working to restore service as soon as possible."
Fans express frustration on social media
One supporter wrote on X: "Gone pub to watch the England game and card payments are down, cash machine next door? Also down." Another commented: "Got to the pub and all the card machines have gone down, cash only in 2026." An image appeared to show people queuing for a cash machine outside a Tesco supermarket, with the post reading: "People queuing for 10 mins for the cash machine because the store is not able to process card or contactless payments. Other retailers are also affected."
Impact on retailers and customers
The outage affected not only pubs and bars showing the match but also major supermarkets like Tesco and Asda, leaving customers unable to pay for goods using cards or contactless methods. The disruption highlighted the reliance on digital payments during major events, forcing many to seek cash from ATMs, which were also affected in some locations.
