By NOAH TRISTER, AP Sports Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The World Cup final will kick off at 3 p.m. EDT next July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. FIFA announced the start times for the tournament’s 104 matches on Saturday, a day after the draw for the expanded 48-nation tourn ament. The kickoff time allows for prime-time viewing in Europe, where it will be 9 p.m., and Britain, where it will be 8 p.m. The average 3 p.m. temperature over the past 30 years in East Rutherford on July 19 is 83 degrees (28 Celsius) with a RealFeel index of 89 (32), according to AccuWeather. Nine of the 10 World Cup finals from 1978 through 2014 started in the 2-3:30 p.m. EDT range, the exception 2002 in Japan, which began at 7 a.m. EDT. The 2018 final started at 11 a.m. EDT and the 2022 championship of a tournament shifted to winter in Qatar at 10 a.m. EST. The 1994 final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, kicked off at 12:30 p.m. local time (3:30 p.m. EDT). FIFA announced the schedule and sites after factoring in travel and broadcast. “Let’s just say it’s been a long night — or a short night,” chief tournament officer Manolo Zubiria said. “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 said goals 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 opener at Mexico City on June 11 between El Tri and South Africa will start at 1 p.m. local (3 p.m. EDT). Semifinals will start at 2 p.m. (3 p.m. EDT) on July 14 at ATT Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and 3 p.m. the following day at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, both of which have retractable roofs. Quarterfinals will begin at 4 p.m. on July 9 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and noon (3 p.m. EDT) the following day at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The last two quarterfinals are on July 11, starting at 5 p.m. at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, and 8 p.m. (9 p.m. EDT) at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Of the quarterfinal venues, SoFi has a roof but air from the outside can flow in, and the other three are open air. FIFA announced on Feb. 4 last year that the final was scheduled for New Jersey and that June 12 revealed site-specific matchups for games in the new round of 32, round of 16, quarterfinals and semifinals. Seventy-eight games will be in the U.S., including all from the quarterfinals on, and 13 apiece in Canada and Mexico. During an event at the Capital Hilton, FIFA also announced sites of the 54 group stage games not finalized with Friday’s draw, which fixed venues for only Groups A, B and D — which include co-hosts Mexico, Canada and the United States. Related Articles Tyler Adams sets bold goal of farthest US World Cup advancement Music, comedy and a whole lot of Trump. And then finally, an actual World Cup draw Everyone is in the toughest World Cup group. Just ask the coaches Iran to play at least one World Cup game on U.S. soil World Cup draw could hardly have gone better for US South Korea is the only team other than Canada and Mexico with no games in the U.S., playing its opener in Guadalajara against the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland or North Macedonia, then facing El Tri at the same venue and finishing the round against South Africa in Monterrey. The U.S. first-round games will be a 6 p.m. local start (9 p.m. EDT) against Paraguay at Inglewood on June 12, a noon kickoff (3 p.m. EDT) vs. Australia at Seattle seven days later and a 7 p.m. start on June 25 at SoFi against Turkey, Romania, Slovakia or Kosovo. Japan’s Group F game against Tunisia at Monterrey, Mexico, on June 20 will be the 1,000th World Cup match. Germany’s June 14 Group E opener against Curaçao will kick off at noon local (1 p.m. EDT) at NRG Stadium. Curaçao has the smallest population of a country to reach 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 said. AP Sports Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report. 2026 World Cup Schedule United States, Mexico, Canada FIRST ROUND GROUP A Thursday, June 11 Mexico City Mexico vs. South Africa 2000 GMT Guadalajara South Korea vs. Denmark/North Macedonia/Czech Republic/Ireland, 0300 GMT Friday Thursday, June 18 Atlanta Denmark/North Macedonia/Czech Republic/Ireland vs. South Africa, 1700 GMT Guadalajara Mexico vs. South Korea, 0200 GMT Friday Wednesday, June 24 Mexico City Denmark/North Macedonia/Czech Republic/Ireland vs. Mexico, 0200 GMT Thursday Monterrey South Africa vs. South Korea, 0200 GMT Thursday GROUP B Friday, June 12 Toronto Canada vs. Italy/Northern Ireland/Wales/Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2000 GMT Saturday, June 13 Santa Clara, California Qatar vs. Switzerland, 2000 GMT Thursday, June 18 Los Angeles Switzerland vs. Italy/Northern Ireland/Wales/Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2000 GMT Vancouver Canada vs. Qatar, 2300 GMT Wednesday, June 24 Vancouver Switzerland vs. Canada, 2000 GMT Seattle Italy/Northern Ireland/Wales/Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Qatar, 2000 GMT GROUP C Saturday, June 13 East Rutherford, New Jersey Brazil vs. Morocco, 2300 GMT Boston Haiti vs. Scotland, 0200 GMT Sunday Friday, June 19 Boston Scotland vs. Morocco, 2300 GMT Philadelphia Brazil vs. Haiti, 0200 GMT Saturday Wednesday, June 24 Miami Scotland vs. Brazil, 2300 GMT Atlanta Morocco vs. Haiti, 2300 GMT GROUP D Friday, June 12 Los Angeles United States vs. Paraguay, 0200 GMT Saturday Saturday, June 13 Vancouver Australia vs. Turkey/Romania/Slovakia/Kosovo, 0500 GMT Sunday Friday, June 19 Santa Clara, California Turkey/Romania/Slovakia/Kosovo vs. Paraguay, 0500 GMT Saturday Seattle United States vs. Australia, 2000 GMT Thursday, June 25 Los Angeles Turkey/Romania/Slovakia/Kosovo vs. United States, 0300 GMT Friday Santa Clara, California Paraguay vs. Australia, 0300 GMT Friday GROUP E Sunday, June 14 Houston Germany vs. Curacao, 1800 GMT Philadelphia Ivory Coast vs. Ecuador, 0000 GMT Monday Saturday, June 20 Toronto Germany vs. Ivory Coast, 2100 GMT Kansas City Ecuador vs. Curacao, 0100 GMT Sunday Thursday, June 25 East Rutherford, New Jersey Ecuador vs. Germany, 2100 GMT Philadelphia Curacao vs. Ivory Coast, 2100 GMT GROUP F Sunday, June 14 Dallas Netherlands vs. Japan, 2100 GMT Monterrey Ukraine/Sweden/Poland/Albania vs. Tunisia, 0300 GMT Monday Saturday, June 20 Houston Netherlands vs. Ukraine/Sweden/Poland/Albania, 1800 GMT Monterrey Tunisia vs. Japan, 0500 GMT Sunday Thursday, June 25 Dallas Japan vs. Ukraine/Sweden/Poland/Albania, 0000 GMT Friday Kansas City Tunisia vs. Netherlands, 0000 GMT Friday GROUP G Monday, June 15 Seattle Belgium vs. Egypt, 2000 GMT Los Angeles Iran vs. New Zealand, 0200 GMT Tuesday Sunday, June 21 Los Angeles Belgium vs. Iran, 2000 GMT Vancouver New Zealand vs. Egypt, 0200 GMT Monday Friday, June 26 Seattle Egypt vs. Iran, 0400 GMT Saturday Vancouver New Zealand vs. Belgium, 0400 GMT Saturday GROUP H Monday, June 15 Atlanta Spain vs. Cape Verde, 1700 GMT Miami Saudi Arabia vs. Uruguay, 2300 GMT Sunday, June 21 Atlanta Spain vs. Saudi Arabia, 1700 GMT Miami Uruguay vs, Cape Verde, 2300 GMT Friday, June 26 Houston Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia, 0100 GMT Saturday Guadalajara Uruguay vs. Spain, 0100 GMT Saturday GROUP I Tuesday, June 16 East Rutherford, New Jersey France vs. Senegal, 2000 GMT Boston Iraq/Bolivia/Suriname vs. Norway, 2300 GMT Monday, June 22 Philadelphia France vs. Iraq/Bolivia/Suriname, 2200 GMT East Rutherford, New Jersey Norway vs. Senegal, 0100 GMT Tuesday Friday, June 26 Boston Norway vs. France, 2000 GMT Toronto Senegal vs. Iraq/Bolivia/Suriname, 2000 GMT GROUP J Tuesday, June 16 Kansas City Argentina vs. Algeria, 0200 GMT Wednesday Santa Clara, California Austria vs. Jordan, 0500 GMT Wednesday Monday, June 22 Dallas Argentina vs. Austria, 1800 GMT Santa Clara, California Jordan vs. Algeria, 0400 GMT Tuesday Saturday, June 27 Kansas City Algeria vs. Austria, 0300 GMT Sunday Dallas Jordan vs. Argentina, 0300 GMT Sunday GROUP K Wednesday, June 17 Houston Portugal vs. DR Congo/Jamaica/New Caledonia, 1800 GMT Mexico City Uzbekistan vs. Colombia, 0300 GMT Thursday Tuesday, June 23 Houston Portugal vs. Uzbekistan, 1800 GMT Guadalajara Colombia vs. DR Congo/Jamaica/New Caledonia, 0300 GMT Wednesday Saturday, June 27 Miami Colombia vs. Portugal, 0030 Sunday Atlanta DR Congo/Jamaica/New Caledonia vs. Uzbekistan, 0030 GMT Sunday GROUP L Wednesday, June 17 Dallas England vs. Croatia, 2100 GMT Toronto Ghana vs. Panama, 0000 GMT Thursday Tuesday, June 23 Boston England vs. Ghana, 2100 GMT Toronto Panama vs. Croatia, 0000 GMT Wednesday Saturday, June 27 East Rutherford, New Jersey Panama vs. England, 2200 GMT Philadelphia Croatia vs. Ghana, 2200 GMT ...read more read less