FIFA World Cup 2026 schedule: every match, date and kick-off time

The FIFA World Cup 2026 schedule packs 104 matches into 39 days across three host nations and 16 cities. That's 40 more games than Qatar 2022 — the inevitable consequence of the move to 48 teams and the introduction of a new Round of 32 knockout stage. The schedule below is the official FIFA fixture list, broken down stage by stage, with dates, venues and kick-off times confirmed after the final draw at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC on 5 December 2025.

FIFA World Cup 2026 schedule — key dates

Group stage fixture schedule

The group stage is the longest phase of the World Cup 2026 schedule, with 72 matches crammed into 17 days. To accommodate that volume, the schedule features up to six fixtures on a single day during peak rounds — staggered across the Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific time zones to give global audiences match windows from morning until late evening.

Matchday 1 — opening days (11–17 June)

• Thursday 11 June, Mexico City — Mexico vs South Africa at Estadio Azteca (1pm local / 3pm ET). The official opening fixture.
• Thursday 11 June, Zapopan (Guadalajara) — South Korea vs Czechia at Estadio Akron (8pm local / 10pm ET).
• Friday 12 June, Toronto — Canada vs Bosnia and Herzegovina at BMO Field (3pm ET). Canada's first match.
• Friday 12 June, Inglewood (Los Angeles) — USA vs Paraguay at SoFi Stadium / Los Angeles Stadium (6pm local / 9pm ET).
• Saturday 13 June, Santa Clara — Qatar vs Switzerland at Levi's Stadium / San Francisco Bay Area Stadium (noon local / 3pm ET).
• Saturday 13 June, East Rutherford — Brazil vs Morocco at MetLife Stadium / New York New Jersey Stadium (6pm ET).
• Saturday 13 June, Foxborough — Haiti vs Scotland at Gillette Stadium / Boston Stadium (9pm ET).
• Monday 15 June — Spain begin their Group H campaign against Cape Verde at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta (noon local / 1pm ET).
• Tuesday 16 June — France begin their Group I campaign against Senegal at MetLife Stadium (3pm ET). Argentina open against Algeria in Group J at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City (8pm local / 9pm ET).
• Wednesday 17 June — Portugal vs DR Congo (Group K) at NRG Stadium, Houston. England vs Croatia (Group L) at AT&T Stadium / Dallas Stadium (3pm local / 4pm ET).

Matchday 2 and 3

The second round of group fixtures runs from 18–22 June, with most teams playing their second match four to five days after their opener. The final round of group matches falls between 23–27 June. As is standard at the FIFA World Cup, the two final-round matches in each group kick off simultaneously to remove any possibility of result-fixing. With the new 12-group format, that means six pairs of matches running at once across the closing days of the group stage.

Round of 32 schedule — a brand-new knockout round

This is the headline addition to the FIFA World Cup 2026 schedule. The Round of 32 is unprecedented in tournament history and bridges the expanded 48-team group stage to the traditional Round of 16. Sixteen fixtures run from 28 June through 3 July, with two matches scheduled most days. The Round of 32 brings together the 24 group winners and runners-up plus the eight best third-placed sides ranked across all 12 groups. Live brackets track which teams progress.

For most teams, advancing from a group of four with three matches is a familiar test. What's new is the consequences: a draw or even a defeat doesn't necessarily mean elimination thanks to the third-place pathway. That's likely to produce some cagier group-stage tactics — and the Round of 32 itself adds a brutal one-match extra hurdle that even the strongest sides will have to navigate before reaching the traditional Round of 16.

Round of 16 and quarter-final schedule

The Round of 16 follows immediately, between 4 and 7 July, with two matches a day. From this point the tournament reverts to the familiar bracket structure. Quarter-finals are scheduled for 9, 10 and 11 July across four of the largest host cities. Each match is a single fixture — 30 minutes of extra time and penalties on offer if scores are level after 90.

Semi-finals, third-place play-off and the final

The two semi-finals on the FIFA World Cup 2026 schedule fall on consecutive days: 14 and 15 July. The third-place play-off — a fixture some federations love and others view as a chore — is on 18 July. Then comes the showpiece: the FIFA World Cup 2026 final at the New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday 19 July. Which teams reach that stage is the question every fan will be tracking through the knockouts.

The 2026 final includes a major broadcast first: a half-time entertainment show, the first ever staged at a World Cup final. FIFA president Gianni Infantino has confirmed Chris Martin and Coldplay will curate the show, with multiple artists performing across an extended half-time interval of around 25 minutes. The format is openly modelled on the Super Bowl half-time tradition.

How to follow the FIFA World Cup 2026 schedule live

Once the schedule kicks off, the easiest way to follow it is through your national rights holder or FIFA+, the official streaming platform. In the US, FOX and Telemundo cover every match (English and Spanish respectively); the BBC and ITV share UK rights; CTV and TSN serve Canadian viewers; Televisa and TV Azteca cover Mexico. For the rest of the world, here's where to watch live.

The group draws and the resulting fixture list shape every betting market on the tournament. Once your team's path is known, group-winner and stage-of-elimination markets become especially interesting — and you can find a deeper breakdown in our outright winner predictions. If you want to see what each team is up against first, here's the full breakdown of the groups.