Nope. My guess is Noon, 3PM, 6PM, 9PM Eastern Time zone kickoffs. West Coast/Mexico getting most of the Late Kicks obviously.
Traditionally the gap between kick-offs is lengthened for the knockout stage to account for games going into extra time and PKs. I would expect the same in 2026 as this maximizes TV coverage and ratings (you can probably fit an extra time match into a 3-hour slot, but the match would end only a few minutes before the next match begins, so no time for commercials, analysis, pre-match build-up, etc.). So, maybe 1PM, 5PM and 9PM for the R32. And then they'll drop the 9PM slot for the R16 and beyond. Just a guess.
I don't know. Looking at Fox's schedule for this summer's major tournaments, the main Fox network will be taking advantage of the less-congested daytime schedule to air the majority of matches during the Euros, while only airing a few Copa America matches as the latter's kickoff times conflict with their primetime schedule. I could see World Cup '26 kickoffs primarily sticking to late morning/early afternoon a la '94 since even the US networks seem to prefer it that way. https://www.foxsports.com/presspass...g-sunrise-to-sunset-coverage-june-14-july-14/
I doubt that, as this would mean none of the matches start in central Europ before 9 pm and most of the matches in Europe deep at night?
Cop America and World Cup are different. Univision and FOX are calling the shots big time for the Copa and of course there is not much of a time difference since all the Countries involved are from the same Hemisphere.
Yes, the US will not start anything before noon. When European teams host they do what is best for them. FIFA is already making it better for Europe by doing the draw without A2 vs A3 etc... When you have 2 European teams or a Euro vs African team, you can bet those games are getting the noon and 3pm kickoffs if possible. On the flip side, Japan, South Korea and Australia will have the bulk of their kickoffs during the last slot.
In the group stage most games were at 13:00/16:00/19:00 Brasilia Time, which was the time zone for all venues except Manaus. There were a couple of games scheduled outside of that pattern. That time zone is one hour ahead of US Eastern Time, so if the suggested schedule is used, the times for the worldwide audience would be the same as 2014, except for the added late slot that is necessary due to the larger tournament. The 2014 knockouts were 13:00/17:00, so 18:00/22:00 in Central Europe.
I think you miscounted the time difference. 50% of the games would be played in convenient times for the European audience i.e. the 12PM and 3PM EDT kickoffs. And probably a higher percentage of knockout round matches.
Europeans have no problem staying up late, or as the Germans call it, getting up early. The World Cup is a write off for productivity.
Yeah, when people have 8 weeks of holiday per year its less of an issue. But kids are still going to school, so I bet the TV ratings are rubbish for games played in the middle of the night, even for the World Cup. Which is why we won't see any matches kick off past 5PM ET after the round of 32.
I remember staying up late to watch some of the 1970 World Cup games. I would have been 9. School sort of tailed off in July but we didn't have end of term exams back then. Plus I went to an experimental school where our work was project based rather than formal classroom based. Thatcher put an end to that (and to free school milk - witch!).
The 1970 finals finished on 21 June though, not in July. I expect the KO stage will use KO times which match the earlier Eastern US Time group stage KO times; that helps with people being used to regular KO times.
This may be true but a lot of the matches in July will be in temperate climates or within indoor domes so that eases things a bit.
I wouldn't compare '70 and '94 with 2026, too many things changed in the meantime. what I do not like is FIFA giving almost no information about scheduling, apart from that basic scheduling chart. we still do not know kickoff times, we do not know if one tournament of 48 or two tournaments of 24 etc. we even do not know if group games will be assigned to hosts prior or after the main draw, with second one being total nonsense. unfortunately with FIFA you never know, meanwhile they went totally nuts and whatever makes most sense is the least probable thing to happen.
yepp, roughly one year after schedule release. not only kickoff times but everything else, not even close to 2026.
Yeah, the fans of teams based in Kansas City will simply spend their spare time in the bars watching the other games. I'm sure that Kansas will be buzzing that summer. Shame they aren't hosting a Round of 16 in addition to Round of 32 and Quarter Final. Once the tournament begins and the goals are flying in, the upsets occur, it won't matter where the games are being played, it will be such a party atmosphere in North America and the world that any preconceived inconveniences will vanish. It's going to be the greatest sporting event EVER!
I can understand why, as it's such a HUGE undertaking. Broadcasting times need to be taken into consideration more than ever now for the European and Asian audiences. Far too often at World Cups, Japan, Korea and Australia get horrible kick-off times in relation to the time differences. If they had finished 3rd at the 2014 Cup, they would have played Costa Rica and the match would have been shown at 05:00 in the morning of Monday 30th June. If the World Cup in Japan and Korea was held now, the kick-off times would be different. There wouldn't be 15:30 kick-offs in the knockout stages now, they would be 21:00. 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup kick-off times People in Europe had to go to work during those 15:30 kick-offs. This wasn't seen as a big deal by FIFA in 2002, but these days it most certainly would be a big deal, a MASSIVE big deal. 22:00 kick-offs in 2026 won't impact viewership that much. Earlier kick-offs in the western regions might, though. All of this will need to be worked out after the draw. It seems odd, conspiratorial, but it isn't, maybe a little, a little FIFA finagling going on to benefit teams as happened with France in 1998, but it will be to the benefit of fans (and broadcasters, advertisers!). I reckon that kick-off times in the Rounds of 32 and 16 will be changed for the likes of Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Australia, if they get through. Let's say that England are to play Morocco/Nigeria/Egypt, etc. in Round of 32 in California and the kick off is down as, 17:00, that would be moved to 22:00. If it was Japan v Italy in California, a 17:00 kick-off would also be changed to 22:00, as Japan is 16 hours AHEAD of California. England v Australia would also be a 22:00 kick-off, I reckon. California / Sydney, Australia time differences What about USA v France? Let's say that happened in Round of 16. When would that kick-off? 21:00 in New York would probably be fine, but what if the match is in California? That might be a 14:00 kick-off. Los Angeles / Paris time differences There's so much taken into consideration, so many permutations. I reckon that we will see many 21:00 and 22:00 kick-offs in the knockout. Those times benefit the hosts and the Europeans. How the Saudis feel about this, we will have to see.
https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/23aa99b288fe8a0d/original/FWC26-Match-Schedule-QA.pdf “Following the final draw, matches will be allocated to stadiums already assigned to groups, and kick-off times confirmed“
I wouldn't hold your breath either. We're still well over 2 years away! I am also not convinced that FIFA fully realized the logistical difficulties that come with a 48-team tournament. So, I don't think its a case where FIFA is not being transparent. Its more like they don't know themselves what approaches will be taken (for e.g. single 48-team tournament or two 24-team tournaments).