Industry Odisha Bureau, Jun 8: With three days to go, the global football extravaganza, ‘FIFA World Cup – 2026’ being co-hosted by USA, Canada and Mexico, is going to kickstart amid pomp and show from its illuminating inaugural session on June 11 to its grand finale on July 19.
The month-long sporting spectacle has reportedly been scheduled to feature a record 104 matches across 16 host cities.
To quote media reports, “FIFA World Cup – 2026 has an expanded format, that means more teams, more matches and a longer knockout stage, for which it makes this session FIFA’s biggest World Cup ever staged.”
Reportedly, “48 nations have been divided into 12 groups of four teams each, while every team will play three group-stage matches, and with the top two teams from each group progressing automatically to the knockout rounds.”
Besides, “Eight best third-placed teams will also qualify. Thus, the number of teams in the knockout phase will be 32. Round of 32 means teams that reach the final will now have to play eight matches instead of seven,” as per media reports.
As per the reported schedule, “Group Stage is from June 11 to June 27. Round of 32 spans from June 28 to July 3. Round of 16 from July 4 to July 7.”
Similarly, “Quarter-Finals start from July 9 to July 11, while Semi-Finals on July 14 and July 15, whereas the Third-Place Playoff is on July 18. Ultimately, the Grand Finale is on July 19,” media reports added.
Group A includes: Mexico, South Korea, South Africa, Czechia teams.
Group B includes: Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar, Switzerland teams
Group C includes: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland teams
Group D includes: United States, Paraguay, Australia, Türkiye teams
Group E includes: Germany, Côte d’Ivoire, Ecuador, Curaçao teams
Group F includes: Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Tunisia teams
Group G includes: Belgium, Egypt, IR Iran, New Zealand teams
Group H includes: Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Cabo Verde teams
Group I includes: France, Senegal, Norway, Iraq teams
Group J includes: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan teams
Group K includes: Portugal, Colombia, Uzbekistan, Congo DR teams
Goup L includes: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama teams
The venue for the FIFA World Cup -2026 scheduled on July 19 has reportedly been scheduled at New York Jersey Stadium, popular as MetLife Stadium where the champions will be crowned.
Even though India failed to qualify for FIFA World Cup – 2026 edition, the Indian football fans can enjoy the scheduled matches late nights and early-morning or morning hours due to the time fifference between India and the co-hosts: USA, Canada and Mexico.
Reportedly, the match time slots as per the Indian Standard Time (IST) would be: 12.30 AM, 3.30 AM, 6.30 AM and 7.30 AM in accordance with the FIFA World Cup – 2026’s full schedule, format, groups, fixtures and India match timings. Hence, Indian football aficionados should keep a watch on it.
