FIFA confirms World Cup 2026 schedule

Bangla Press Desk:  Next year’s football World Cup co-host Mexico will play South Africa in the opening match -- a repeat of the opening game at the 2010 World Cup -- at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on 11 June, FIFA confirmed on Saturday as it announced the official schedule.

The final at the MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, US on 19 July will kick off at 3:00PM (1900 GMT), FIFA said.

The complex nature of the first-ever 48-team World Cup being played all across North America meant that world football's governing body needed an extra day to set venues and kick-off times following Friday's draw.

Holders Argentina, will meet Algeria in Kansas City in their opening match in Group J on 16 June before facing Austria and Jordan in Dallas.

France, winners in 2018 and runners-up in 2022, will play all three Group I matches in the northeastern US, facing Senegal at the MetLife Stadium and Norway in Boston, either side of a fixture in Philadelphia against an intercontinental play-off winner.

Brazil, who won the last World Cup staged in the United States in 1994, will meet Morocco at the MetLife Stadium in their first Group C encounter on 13 June.

Carlo Ancelotti's team then meet Haiti in Philadelphia on 19 June before a clash with Scotland in Miami on 24 June -- it will be the fifth time the countries have faced off at a World Cup.

Germany would meet Caribbean minnows Curacao in Houston in Group E on 14 June.

European champions Spain, meanwhile, will play their first two Group H fixtures, against debutants Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia, in the covered and air-conditioned Atlanta stadium.

They will then head to Mexico to take on Uruguay in Guadalajara.

England will open their World Cup bid against Croatia in Dallas on 17 June.

Thomas Tuchel's England, who are fourth in the current world ranking, will play Croatia at 3:00pm local time at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, just outside Dallas.

They will therefore be grateful for the stadium's retractable roof which should help keep out the baking afternoon temperatures.

England will then go to the northeastern United States for their remaining Group L fixtures, taking on Ghana in Boston on 23 June at 4:00pm local time, and then facing Panama at the MetLife Stadium just outside New York City on 27 June at 5:00pm.

BP/SP