Match-day maths reveals the number of pizza pans needed to cover a standard football pitch ahead of England v Croatia on Wednesday 17 June.

As England prepare for their match with Croatia, manufacturer and supplier of light catering equipment Chef Set Ltd has tackled a very different kind of match-day challenge: just how many 12-inch pizza pans would it take to cover an entire football pitch?

The answer is a whopping pizza-perfect 88,280 pizza pans!

With World Cup fever expected to drive close to £900 million* in additional spending across UK pubs, bars, restaurants and venues, Chef Set has calculated that using a standard football pitch and a staggered honeycomb layout, nearly 90,000 pizza pans would be needed to cover the playing surface from end to end, proving that when it comes to pizza, this really is a game of two halves.

The calculation was carried out using Chef Set’s professional 12-inch non-stick pizza pans, arranged in the most efficient formation possible. While England will be hoping to find the back of the net, Chef Set’s maths team found enough pans to fill a whole pitch instead.

Simmie Korotane, Communications Director at Chef Set Ltd, said: “With England in action, we thought we’d put our own spin on match-day preparations. Football and pizza are both crowd-pleasers, so bringing them together felt like a natural fit.

“We knew the final figure would be big, but discovering it would take nearly 90,000 pizza pans to cover a football pitch was a real slice of surprise.”

Whether it’s catering for a local team, a packed restaurant or a major hospitality venue, Chef Set’s professional pizza range includes pizza pans, dough boxes, tiered racks and other essentials ready for kick-off.