England Fans Will Face 'Nightmare' Kick-Off Time If They Top World Cup Group
The Three Lions have been told where and when their opening matches of the 2026 World Cup will be played.
England fans could be forced to watch a crucial World Cup match at a nightmare time if the Three Lions top their group.
In just six months, the 2026 World Cup will kick off across North America, with the Canada, Mexico and the United States of America all hosting matches.
Ahead of the competition, the official draw took place on December 4 during a ceremony in the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC.
England were drawn in Group L alongside Croatia, who will be England's first opponents at the World Cup, Ghana and Panama, meaning they will enter the group stage as heavy favourites.
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But England fans may not want them to top the group because doing so will mean that they will have to brutal kick-off time in a future fixture.
With the World Cup taking place thousands of miles away from the United Kingdom, all kick off times will be five hours behind the current time in England.
Thankfully for England fans, they were given some of the kinder kick off times for the group stage matches, which will take place at 9pm, 9pm and 10pm respectively.
Should they top the group as expected, England would then play their last-32 match will take place in Atlanta at 5pm BST.
However, this will not be the case if they later in the competition, as if they top Group L, their Round of 16 game will then kick off at 1m BST, meaning it will be an early wakeup call for any fans looking to cheer England on.
In this scenario, it would be most likely that the Three Lions would face co-hosts Mexico at the Azteca Stadium in the last-16.
Unfortunately for Scotland fans, they face a much later group stage campaign.
Their opening match against Haiti is scheduled to kick off at 2am BST wile their other group matches against Morocco and Brazil will kick off at 11pm.
Should England or Scotland reach the final stages of the competition, fans will be able to watch them at ideal times in the UK.
Dallas will host the first semi-final on July 14 at 7pm GMT, with Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium holding the second on July 15 at 8pm GMT.
The World Cup final will then be held in the MetLife Stadium, the same venue as the Club World Cup final, on July 19 at 8pm GMT.
Topics: England, Football, Football World Cup, FIFA World Cup
Ben McCrum