FOR 39 days, Malaysia ran on borrowed sleep.
The World Cup final between Argentina and Spain kicked off at 3am, capping a tournament in which more than half of Malaysia’s most-watched group-stage matches began between midnight and 5am.
Mamak stalls across the country were packed before kick-off, and regardless of who lifted the trophy, millions of Malaysians stayed awake to watch.
That’s part of what makes the World Cup special.
It’s also, quietly, a public health concern.
The following morning, emergency leave requests typically rise and workplaces become a little less productive. More importantly, weeks of disrupted sleep carry consequences that extend well beyond fatigue.
Malaysia already has one of the highest obesity rates in Southeast Asia. According to the 2023 National Health and Morbidity Survey, 54.4% of adults are overweight or obese, while 21.8% are clinically obese.
Sleep deprivation only makes matters worse.
A lack of sleep reduces leptin, the hormone that signals fullness, while increasing ghrelin, the hormone that stimulates hunger. That helps explain why a post-match trip to the mamak often feels less like a choice than an irresistible craving.
“While staying up for World Cup matches may seem harmless, even one night of lost sleep can impair attention, reaction time, decision-making and mood, while increasing daytime sleepiness and accident risk,” said Prof Dr Ahmad Izuanuddin Ismail, President of the Sleep Disorder Society of Malaysia (SDSM) and Vice-President of the College of Physicians Malaysia.
“It also raises blood pressure, promotes inflammation and impairs glucose metabolism, particularly among people with obesity, obstructive sleep apnoea, hypertension, diabetes or cardiovascular disease. The excitement of football lasts a night. The effects of lost sleep can linger much longer.”
These issues were among the key topics discussed at the Sleep 2026 x Malaysian Multidisciplinary Sleep Conference (MMSC), jointly organised by SDSM and Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) in Bangsar South earlier this month under the theme “Redefining Sleep Health in the Obesity Era.”
Among the regional experts was Prof Naricha Chirakalwasan, President of the Sleep Society of Thailand, who cautioned against relying on “catch-up sleep”.
“You cannot undo one bad night simply by sleeping in the next day,” she said.
“Restoring normal hormonal and circadian balance after sleep loss can take weeks of consistent, adequate sleep. Regular sleep patterns matter far more than trying to catch up.”
Irregular sleep, she added, is itself associated with poorer metabolic, cardiovascular and mental health outcomes.
Taken together, the message is straightforward: one long lie-in cannot undo weeks of disrupted sleep.
Nor will this be the last test of Malaysians’ sleeping habits. The Premier League returns just 33 days after the World Cup final, with La Liga following soon after. Long before the next World Cup arrives in 2030, there will be countless reasons to stay up late again.
That makes now the right time to develop healthier habits instead of repeatedly trying to recover after every major tournament.
The good news is that recovery is relatively simple.
Rather than sleeping until midday, a 20 to 30-minute nap the following afternoon can improve alertness without further disrupting the body’s internal clock.
Once the final whistle blows, resist the temptation to prolong the night with another round of mamak food or caffeinated drinks, as both make it harder to return to a normal sleep routine.
Most importantly, resume your usual bedtime the following night and maintain a consistent wake-up time. A regular waking hour is one of the strongest signals for resetting the body’s biological clock.
If tiredness persists well beyond match week, or if you regularly snore, wake up feeling unrefreshed or constantly crave food despite adequate sleep, it may be time to seek a professional sleep assessment rather than simply blaming football.
Football will continue asking Malaysians to trade sleep for a few hours of excitement.
The least we can do is make sure that debt is properly repaid instead of rolling it over until the next final. ‒ July 22, 2026
The author is a Consultant Otorhinolaryngologist, Head & Neck and Sleep Surgeon at Universiti Malaya Medical Centre and Executive Committee Member of the Sleep Disorder Society of Malaysia (SDSM).
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main image: Cottonbro studio
