Set Your Clocks: The Story Behind the World Cup’s Timings

Games at 4 a.m.? Time to get used to it. The explanation for the schedule that hurts Israeli fans ranges from football’s globalization to the impact of a troubling climate. Welcome to the new era.

Sport 5 published: 11.06.26, 13:57 Photo: Sport 5

Set your clocks. After the 2018 World Cup was held in Russia and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, we have returned to the other side of the globe. The 2026 World Cup, the biggest ever, will take place in the United States, Canada and Mexico, at very difficult hours for the Israeli public. How difficult? There will be matches at 1 a.m., 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. There will indeed be quite a few games at convenient times, but in practice, between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m., sports are not expected.

That is different from Qatar, where we saw afternoon matches, or Russia, which was in more comfortable time zones for Europeans. To the credit of World Cup organizers, most European teams do play at evening hours in Israel, but Norway versus Senegal, for example, will kick off at 3 a.m. Two of Brazil’s three matches will take place deep in the night, and the intriguing Colombia versus Portugal will be at 2:30 a.m. between June 27 and 28.

The first and most important explanation is linked to broadcast rights. While Qatar is of course a single country with stadiums close to one another, the geographical spread of the 2026 United States-Mexico-Canada tournament is among the largest ever. There are three time zones and 16 different cities, so control over match times is limited. We see something similar, for example, in the NBA, where during the regular season games start alternately from 7:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time, in an effort to account for the different cities.

That explanation is even more valid in the global context. Europe is still, by far, the biggest football market, but viewing habits in the developing world have changed significantly. Access to football matches in South America has risen sharply thanks to the streaming revolution and social media. Once many people can watch games, FIFA’s ratings potential rises.

That is where the new markets come in, the real engine of football’s growth and what influenced the postponement of the Champions League. Football viewing habits in China, India and Africa are dramatically different, thanks on one hand to broader exposure to the sport and on the other to changes in viewing habits. Hundreds of millions of fans in China and Indonesia watch matches, not only those of the local national teams. In such a case, the European market is no longer so important and will not be the only consideration when scheduling.

This is in FIFA’s economic interest.

An inspection we conducted found that in the 1994 World Cup, about 73% of the matches, 38 out of 52, were at convenient times for Israeli viewers, compared with 41%, 43 out of 104, in the 2026 World Cup. The tournament has doubled in size, but the number of convenient matches has declined. Football has become more global and attracted more fans, but that comes at the expense of comfortable viewing hours here in Israel.

Given the way the game is developing, there is a scenario in which we will see similar things at the 2030 World Cup, which will be held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, or even in 2034 in Saudi Arabia.

That is one explanation.

The second, and even more significant, explanation is global warming, one of the central issues at last year’s Club World Cup. Given the expected heat in some of the cities where the World Cup will be held, especially on the eastern side of the United States, it is simply impossible to play during the day. At last year’s Club World Cup, we saw matches postponed because of extreme heat stress and lightning storms at the same time, and the problem is only getting worse year by year.

In 2022 and 2034, the World Cup simply moved to winter, while in 2018 it was held in cool Russia. A study by the players’ union claimed that a quarter of the matches are expected to be played in extreme heat conditions, which could endanger the players’ health. That is nearly twice as many as at the 1994 World Cup, and it is likely that match times will change gradually under pressure and concern for the players’ own health. If it is too hot to play during the day, they will wait until night.

Given that midnight in Israel is 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, we will see more games at later hours in an attempt to create equality among the different teams. A team playing only in extreme heat and only at noon will be at a physical disadvantage compared with one playing in the evening, which could decide the World Cup. That is why England versus Panama or Norway versus Senegal will be played in the small hours of the night. Even if that means the second match will take place at 2:00 a.m. Oslo time or midnight in Dakar. There is also importance to sporting fairness.

Is this the future of football and sport in general? It may be. It will be interesting to see the impact during Los Angeles 2028, when the Tokyo Olympics also took place at hours that were not really hours for the Israeli public, partly because of precisely these considerations. If it is too hot, to the point of endangering the players, they should not be on the pitch.

The third, and probably simplest, explanation is that the World Cup has grown. The 2026 World Cup is the first with 48 teams, which led to 104 matches and a much more crowded group stage and knockout phase. FIFA wants to avoid a situation in which there are two matches at the same time, in an effort to give viewers the chance to consume as much football as possible, which leads to an impressive spread of matches throughout the tournament. Given that the hours available to play are limited מראש? Football at night, at least in the early stages.

The knockout rounds will look different. In the round of 16, there are two matches in the small hours of the night, two that start at midnight, two that start at 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., and two in our early evening. The semifinals and the final will be at 10:00 p.m. our time. One quarterfinal will start at 4:00 a.m., the others between 11:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. Not ideal, but that is how it is in our world. Everyone has to be taken into account.

World Cup 2026

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