England will open their World Cup bid in Dallas against Croatia in a 9pm kick-off UK time, while Scotland will face Haiti in a 2am kick-off UK time.
Thomas Tuchel’s side would have been hoping for Toronto as the selected venue for their opener, given its proximity to their second and third group games, but will begin their campaign in Texas, following Saturday’s schedule announcement by FIFA.
England will then play Ghana in Boston in a 9pm kick-off UK time and conclude their Group L games against Panama in a 10pm kick-off in New York-New Jersey.
Scotland’s fixtures will have their fans who haven’t made the trip to the US staying up through the night, with the first game against Haiti in the early hours of June 14, and their subsequent group games with Morocco and Brazil at 11pm UK time.
Scotland will be in Boston for the games with Haiti and Morocco (June 19), before moving on to Miami to face Brazil (June 24).
Northern Ireland or Wales will play Canada in Toronto, Switzerland in Los Angeles and Qatar in Seattle should they qualify through the play-offs, with each of their group games kicking off at 8pm UK time.
FIFA had been considering moving some kick-off times, after extreme heat affected some Club World Cup games.
The Republic of Ireland can also qualify for the 2026 World Cup through the play-offs and could face co-hosts Mexico, South Africa and South Korea in Group A. Their fans back home will also be watching games in the middle of the night – with their potential opener at 3am, the second at 5pm and the third at 2am.
The 2026 World Cup final will be on July 19 at the New York-New Jersey (MetLife) Stadium. It will kick-off at 3pm local time – that’s 8pm UK time.
FIFA stated they had factored in issues such as recovery, climate and travel distances when mapping out the specific locations and kick-off times of matches.
World Cup draw in full
Group A: Mexico, South Korea, South Africa, Republic of Ireland/Denmark/North Macedonia/Czech Republic
Group B: Canada, Switzerland, Qatar, Wales/Northern Ireland/Italy/Bosnia-Herzegovina
Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Scotland, Haiti
Group D: USA, Australia, Paraguay, Turkey/Romania/Slovakia/Kosovo
Group E: Germany, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Curacao
Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia, Poland/Ukraine/Sweden/Albania
Group G: Belgium, Iran, Egypt, New Zealand
Group H: Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde
Group I: France, Senegal, Norway, Iraq or Bolivia/Suriname
Group J: Argentina, Austria, Algeria, Jordan
Group K: Portugal, Colombia, Uzbekistan, DR Congo or Jamaica/New Caledonia
Group L: England, Croatia, Panama, Ghana
World Cup key dates
Group stage: June 11-27
Round of 32: June 28 to July 3
Round of 16: July 4-7
Quarter-finals: July 9-11
Semi-finals: July 14-15
Third-place play-off (‘Bronze final’): July 18
Final: July 19
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
