Confirmed 2026 World Cup Fixtures And Kick-Off Times Are Disastrous For Ireland Fans

The groups were locked in after Friday’s draw, and now the fixtures for the 2026 World Cup have been fully confirmed, after the full match schedule was announced on Saturday.

Ireland could yet be there if they can come through March’s playoff, and now know their opponents and the venues, dates and kick-off times of their three prospective group games.

Northern Ireland and Wales also know their potential fixtures if one of them prevails from their playoff path, while Scotland and England’s fixtures are locked in.

Recommended

It’s a mixed bag for Irish fans, with a huge number of the games next summer taking place in the middle of the night Irish time.

READ HERE: Heimir Quietly Confident After Ireland Handed “Beatable” World Cup Draw

READ HERE: Aston Villa Stars Entertaining Title Talk After Injury-Time Winner v Arsenal

2026 World Cup fixtures: Kick-off times difficult for Irish viewers

The kick-off times for the 2026 World Cup were expected to follow those of the fixtures at last year’s Club World Cup in the USA, which saw games kick-off at 5pm, 8pm, 11pm and 2am Irish time.

However, the fixtures announced for next summer’s World Cup are far less hospitable to Irish fans.

Of the 104 games, only 32 will kick off earlier than 9pm Irish time. That may not sound the worst for fans planning to take in games, as they will occur outside traditional working hours – until Ireland’s potential kick-off times are taken into account.

Should Ireland qualify, their opener against South Korea will kick off at 3am on the night of June 11th into June 12th. Their second group game would then kick off at 5pm on June 18th, before another late-night game at 2am on the night of June 24th.

Almost half of the 104 games will take place after midnight Irish time, with four games kicking off as late (or early, depending on your view) as 5am.

The breakdown of late-night or early morning kick-off times for Irish viewers is as follows:

12am: 6 games
12:30am: 2 games
1am: 7 games
2am: 11 games
2:30am: 1 game
3am: 9 games
4am: 4 games
5am: 4 games

Irish fans had better say goodbye to a healthy sleep schedule if they intend on watching every game from next summer’s World Cup.

Here’s the full 2026 World Cup match schedule after the fixtures were confirmed on Saturday.

 

2026 World Cup draw: Full fixture list

All fixtures are listed in Irish time.

All games taking place overnight are listed on the date they will occur – i.e., Ireland’s potential opener takes place on the night of June 11th into June 12th after midnight, thus is listed as June 12th.

2026 World Cup Group A: Ireland’s potential fixtures

11th June 2026

8pm: Mexico v South Africa (Mexico City)

 

12th June 2026

3am: South Korea v UEFA Playoff D (Guadalajara)

 

18th June 2026

5pm: UEFA Playoff D v South Africa (Atlanta)

 

19th June 2026

2am: Mexico v Korea Republic (Guadalajara)

 

25th June 2026

2am: UEFA Playoff D v Mexico (Mexico City)

2am: South Africa v Korea Republic (Monterrey)

 

Group B

UEFA Playoff A includes Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales, and Bosnia

12th June 2026

8pm: Canada v UEFA Playoff A (Toronto)

 

13th June 2026

8pm: Qatar v Switzerland (San Francisco)

 

18th June 2026

8pm: Switzerland v UEFA Playoff A (LA)

11pm: Canada v Qatar (Vancouver)

 

24th June 2026

8pm: Switzerland v Canada (Vancouver)

8pm: UEFA Playoff A v Qatar (Seattle)

 

Group C: Scotland’s World Cup fixtures

13th June 2026

11pm: Brazil v Morocco (New York)

 

14th June 2026

2am: Haiti v Scotland (Boston)

 

19th June 2026

11pm: Scotland v Morocco (Boston)

 

20th June 2026

2am: Brazil v Haiti (Philadelphia)

 

24th June 2026

11pm: Scotland v Brazil (Miami)

11pm: Morocco v Haiti (Atlanta)

 

Group D

13th June 2026

2am: USA v Paraguay (LA)

5am: Australia v UEFA Playoff C (Vancouver)

 

19th June 2026

8pm: USA v Australia (Seattle)

 

20th June 2026

5am: UEFA Playoff C v Paraguay (San Francisco)

 

26th June 2026

3am: UEFA Playoff C v USA (LA)

3am: Paraguay v Australia (San Francisco)

 

Group E

14th June 2026

6pm: Germany v Curacao (Houston)

 

15th June 2026

12am: Ivory Coast v Ecuador (Philadelphia)

 

20th June 2026

9pm: Germany v Ivory Coast (Toronto)

 

21st June 2026

1am: Ecuador v Curacao (Kansas City)

 

25th June 2026

9pm: Ecuador v Germany (New York)

9pm: Curacao v Ivory Coast (Philadelphia)

 

Group F

14th June 2026

9pm: Netherlands v Japan (Dallas)

 

15th June 2026

3am: UEFA Playoff B v Tunisia (Monterrey)

 

20th June 2026

6pm: Netherlands v UEFA Playoff B (Houston)

 

21st June 2026

5am: Tunisia v Japan (Monterrey)

 

26th June 2026

12am: Japan v UEFA Playoff B (Dallas)

12am: Netherlands v Tunisia (Kansas City)

 

Group G

15th June 2026

8pm: Belgium v Egypt (Seattle)

 

16th June 2026

2am: Iran v New Zealand (LA)

 

21st June 2026

8pm: Belgium v Iran (LA)

 

22nd June 2026

2am: New Zealand v Egypt

 

27th June 2026

4am: Egypt v Iran (Seattle)

4am: New Zealand v Belgium (Vancouver)

 

Group H

15th June 2026

5pm: Spain v Cape Verde (Atlanta)

11pm: Saudi Arabia v Uruguay (Miami)

 

21st June 2026

5pm: Spain v Saudi Arabia (Atlanta)

11pm: Uruguay v Cape Verde (Miami)

 

27th June 2026

1am: Cape Verde v Saudi Arabia (Houston)

1am: Uruguay v Spain (Guadalajara)

 

Group I

16th June 2026

8pm: France v Senegal (New York)

11pm: FIFA Playoff 2 v Norway (Boston)

 

22nd June 2026

10pm: France v FIFA Playoff 2 (Philadelphia)

 

23rd June 2026

1am: Norway v Senegal (New York)

 

26th June 2026

8pm: Norway v France (Boston)

8pm: Senegal v FIFA Playoff 2 (Toronto)

 

Group J

17th June 2026

2am: Argentina v Algeria (Kansas City)

5am: Austria v Jordan (San Francisco)

 

22nd June 2026

6pm: Argentina v Austria (Dallas)

 

23rd June 2026

4am: Jordan v Algeria (San Francisco)

 

28th June 2026

3am: Algeria v Austria (Kansas City)

3am: Jordan v Argentina (Dallas)

 

Group K

17th June 2026

6pm: Portugal v FIFA Playoff 1 (Houston)

 

18th June 2026

3am: Uzbekistan v Colombia (Mexico City)

 

23rd June 2026

6pm: Portugal v Uzbekistan (Houston)

 

24th June 2026

3am: Colombia v FIFA Playoff 1 (Guadalajara)

 

28th June 2026

12:30am: Colombia v Portugal (Miami)

12:30am: FIFA Playoff 1 v Uzbekistan (Atlanta)

 

Group L: England’s World Cup fixtures

17th June 2026

9pm: England v Croatia (Dallas)

 

18th June 2026

12am: Ghana v Panama (Toronto)

 

23rd June 2026

9pm: England v Ghana (Boston)

 

24th June 2026

12am: Panama v Croatia (Toronto)

 

27th June 2026

10pm: Panama v England (New York)

10pm: Croatia v Ghana (Philadelphia)

 

2026 World Cup knockout phase schedule
Round of 32

June 28th 2026

8pm: Runner-up Group A v Runner-up Group B (LA) – Match 73

 

June 29th 2026

5pm: Winner Group C v Runner-up Group F (Houston) – Match 76

9:30pm: Winner Group E v 3rd A/B/C/D/F (Boston) – Match 74

 

June 30th 2026

2am: Winner Group F v Runner-up Group C (Monterrey) – Match 75

6pm: Runner-up Group E v Runner-up Group I (Dallas) – Match 78

10pm: Winner Group I v 3rd C/D/F/G/H (New York) – Match 77

 

July 1st 2026

2am: Winner Group A v 3rd C/E/F/H/I (Mexico City) – Match 79

5pm: Winner Group L v 3rd E/H/I/J/K (Atlanta) – Match 80

9pm: Winner Group G v 3rd A/E/H/I/J (Seattle) – Match 82

 

July 2nd 2026

1am: Winner Group D v 3rd B/E/F/I/J (San Francisco) – Match 81

8pm: Winner Group H v Runner-up Group J (LA) – Match 84

 

July 3rd 2026

12am: Runner-up Group K v Runner-up Group L (Toronto) – Match 83

4am: Winner Group B v 3rd Group E/F/G/I/J (Vancouver) – Match 85

7pm: Runner-up Group D v Runner-up Group G (Dallas) – Match 88

11pm: Winner Group J v Runner-up Group H (Miami) – Match 86

 

July 4th 2026

2:30am: Winner Group K v 3rd Group D/E/I/J/L (Kansas City) – Match 87

 

Round of 16

July 4th 2026

6pm: Winner 73 v Winner 75 (Houston) – Match 90

10pm: Winner 74 v Winner 77 (Philadelphia) – Match 89

 

July 5th 2026

9pm: Winner 76 v Winner 78 (New York) – Match 91

 

July 6th 2026

1am: Winner 79 v Winner 80 (Mexico City) – Match 92

8pm: Winner 83 v Winner 84 (Dallas) – Match 93

 

July 7th 2026

1am: Winner 81 v Winner 82 (Seattle) – Match 94

5pm: Winner 86 v Winner 88 (Atlanta) – Match 88

9pm: Winner 85 v Winner 87 (Vancouver) – Match 96

 

Quarter-finals

July 9th 2026

9pm: Winner 89 v Winner 90 (Boston) – Match 97

 

July 10th 2026

8pm: Winner 93 v Winner 94 (LA) – Match 98

 

July 11th 2026

10pm: Winner 91 v Winner 92 (Miami) – Match 99

 

July 12th 2026

2am: Winner 95 v Winner 96 (Kansas City) – Match 100

 

Semi-finals

July 14th 2026

8pm: Winner 97 v Winner 98 (Dallas)

 

July 15th 2026

8pm: Winner 99 v Winner 100 (Atlanta)

 

3rd-place playoff

July 18th 2026

10pm: Loser semi-final 1 v Loser semi-final 2 (Miami)

 

2026 FIFA World Cup final

8pm: Semi-final winner 1 v Semi-final winner 2 (New York)

SEE ALSO: Roy Keane’s All-Timer Toy Show Cameo Has Sparked International Reaction