Will the World Cup cause a baby boom?

Senior NHS clinician Sascha Wells-Munro OBE, thinks Thomas Tuchel's 26-man squad could be responsible for a spike in babies being born next spring.

The Director of Midwifery at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust made the raunchy prediction while at a board meeting last month.

She said the birth rate "absolutely will increase with the World Cup" which starts later this week on Thursday across North American countries, the USA, Canada, and Mexico.

Wells-Munro's statement comes as the fertility rate in York remains among the lowest in the country.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released last month have also revealed a bleak picture for birth rates in the UK.

In 2025, births in England and Wales fell for the fourth year in a row to their lowest level in almost 50 years, according to ONS stats.

Total fertility rates also fell to 1.39 children per woman in 2025, down from 1.41 in 2024.

But if the likes of Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, and Marcus Rashford are in form, Sascha says the competition will "definitely" have a positive impact.

Research published in the PeerJ medical journal in 2024 found that major sporting tournaments — like the World Cup — may be associated with "increased birth rates" due to "celebratory sex."

It suggested that sporting tournaments like the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the 2016 UEFA Euros were associated with increases in the number of babies born nine months after a notable team wins or hosts the tournament.

It also found that "unexpected losses by teams from a premier soccer league were associated with a decline in births 9 months on."

England are favorites to win the tournament alongside Spain and France.

Their first game is next Wednesday, June 17, versus Croatia.

The last time England played the Slavic team in the competition was in 2018 during the semi-finals, which they lost 2-1.

England have since beaten them twice.