WASHINGTON — FIFA introduced the beginning occasions for the event’s 104 matches on Saturday, a day after the draw for the expanded 48-nation event, with the ultimate set to kick off at 3 p.m. ET on July 19.
The kickoff time for the ultimate at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, permits for prime-time viewing in continental Europe, the place will probably be 9 p.m., and Britain, the place will probably be 8 p.m.
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The typical 3 p.m. temperature over the previous 30 years in East Rutherford on July 19 is 83 levels, in accordance with AccuWeather.
9 of the ten World Cup finals from 1978 via 2014 began within the 2-3:30 p.m. ET vary. The exception was in 2002 in Japan, which started at 7 a.m. ET. The 2018 closing began at 11 a.m. ET and the 2022 championship of a event shifted to winter in Qatar at 10 a.m. ET.
The 1994 closing on the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, kicked off at 3:30 p.m. ET.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Andres Cantor converse throughout the FIFA World Cup 2026 official match schedule announcement. Hector Vivas – FIFA/FIFA by way of Getty Pictures
FIFA introduced the schedule and websites after factoring in journey and broadcast.
“Let’s just say it’s been a long night — or a short night,” chief event officer Manolo Zubiria mentioned. “As I explained earlier to some of the coaches, we’ve tried to basically strike the right balance looking at the preparation, the recovery that the teams have to do in this very large footprint, the biggest World Cup ever, 16 cities, three countries, different climatic conditions, time zones.”
Zubira mentioned objectives included “trying to minimize travel for the teams and the fans to try to see their teams play, and obviously trying to see how to best expose this competition to the world, trying to find the right times for the kickoff times in specific cities, taking into consideration some restrictions.”
The World Cup opener at Mexico Metropolis on June 11 between El Tri and South Africa will begin at 3 p.m. ET.
Semifinals will begin at 3 p.m. ET on July 14 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and three p.m. the next day at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, each of which have retractable roofs.
Quarterfinals will start at 4 p.m. on July 9 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and midday (3 p.m. ET) the next day at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The final two quarterfinals are on July 11, beginning at 5 p.m. at Onerous Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, and eight p.m. (9 p.m. ET) at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri. Of the quarterfinal venues, SoFi has a roof however air from the surface can circulate in, and the opposite three are open air.
FIFA introduced on Feb. 4 final 12 months that the ultimate was scheduled for New Jersey, and that June 12 revealed site-specific matchups for video games within the new spherical of 32, spherical of 16, quarterfinals and semifinals.
104 matches. Locked in.
The #FIFAWorldCup 2026™ match schedule ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/ZYofjO8z41
Seventy-eight video games might be within the U.S., together with all from the quarterfinals on, and 13 apiece in Canada and Mexico.
Throughout an occasion on the Capital Hilton, FIFA additionally introduced websites of the 54 group stage video games not finalized with Friday’s draw, which fastened venues for under Teams A, B and D, which embody co-hosts Mexico, Canada and the USA.
South Korea is the one crew apart from Canada and Mexico with no video games within the U.S., taking part in its opener in Guadalajara in opposition to the Czech Republic, Denmark, Eire or North Macedonia, then dealing with El Tri on the identical venue and ending the spherical in opposition to South Africa in Monterrey.
The U.S. males’s nationwide crew’s first-round video games might be a 9 p.m. ET begin in opposition to Paraguay at Inglewood on June 12, a 3 p.m. ET kickoff vs. Australia at Seattle seven days later, and a 7 p.m. begin on June 25 at SoFi in opposition to Turkiye, Romania, Slovakia or Kosovo.
Japan‘s Group F recreation in opposition to Tunisia at Monterrey, Mexico, on June 20 would be the 1,000th World Cup match.
Germany‘s June 14 Group E opener in opposition to Curaçao will kick off at midday native (1 p.m. ET) at NRG Stadium. Curaçao has the smallest inhabitants of a rustic to achieve the World Cup at about 150,000.
“It will be played in Houston, which is a closed venue, indoor, so nobody can complain about heat or weather or wind or whatever,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino mentioned.
Data from The Related Press was used on this report.
