Excitement is in the air for football fans nationwide in the run up to the national team’s World Cup game against South Korea on Wednesday. But from an economic point of view, the match will be expensive for the country.

The reason the match could hit the economy so hard is that it kicks off before usual working hours come to an end – at 4pm.

Accordingly, the decisive football game which Die Mannschaft may need to win in order to reach the final 16 in the tournament is estimated to cost the German economy between €130 and €200 million.

Around 30 percent of employees are still working around 4pm, said economists at the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW) according to German press group Funke Mediengruppe.

If one in two of these employees watches the game and on average one labour hour without subsequent work is lost, the economy will incur costs of up to €200 million, IW economists said.

There is a flipside, though. If colleagues watch the match together in the workplace, this could also strengthen cohesion among them and thus have a positive effect on productivity.

“It’s not always about money, but also about team-building – and there’s certainly nothing better than watching an exciting football match together with your colleagues,” said IW labour market expert Christoph Schröder.

“Let’s just hope the German team wins,” he added.