Peak pub times!

Scotland v Haiti - 2am UK time...

Uruguay v Spain - a tasty fixture - 2am UK time.

England KO times.

9pm v Croatia in Dallas
9pm v Ghana in Boston
10pm v Panama in New York

Pubs will be packed....

Both semis and final 8pm UK time.

Edited December 7, 2025Dec 7 by CRAZY CHRIS

England doing alright with where the matches are located apart from Dallas of course. 10 degree difference in average summer temp between there and Toronto for wxample

The dallas one is in an air conditioned stadium so we really lurked out.

The Boston one has the chance to be the worst. My neck of the woods. Could be 80s with a good chance it humidity on top of that. However, in the Northeast it hardly ever quite the dew point levels of the Southeast.

3 hours ago, Henessy Lake said:

The dallas one is in an air conditioned stadium so we really lurked out.

We may meet Mexico in the heat of the Azteca though in R16 if all top teams win their group and progress through R32. No Aircon there.

Scotland FA not happy at getting a 2am match with Haiti and want to complain. Well I'd say their Brazil one is more anticipated.

Many pubs and bars are expected to apply for an hour's extension for the Panama match. Magistrates will grant it unless there's been recent trouble, drugs or if the police object to it.

BBC and ITV sport bosses meet Tuesday to decide match picks. It's thought whoever has first pick will choose England v Serbia or 1st QF which could be England - Brazil, a mouth-watering duel. 2am matches won't be too popular with them.

Edited December 7, 2025Dec 7 by CRAZY CHRIS

I remember watching the semi final between Sweden and Brazil at 2am in 1994 as a 10 year old 🤣

I expect this to ne the last World Cup when kick=off times are an issue for me. I'll be nearly 70 by the next one, and safely retired.

2 hours ago, Steve201 said:

I remember watching the semi final between Sweden and Brazil at 2am in 1994 as a 10 year old 🤣

I remember the QF in 2002 England V Brazil at 7.30am on a Friday. Watched first half at home then second half in daughter's school hall, all parents and pupils crammed in as head had wheeled in 2 TV's. Brazil won.

Yeah poor Scotland, not in the best position.

17 minutes ago, CRAZY CHRIS said:

I remember the QF in 2002 England V Brazil at 7.30am on a Friday. Watched first half at home then second half in daughter's school hall, all parents and pupils crammed in as head had wheeled in 2 TV's. Brazil won.

I remember watching that match in primary school lol

1 hour ago, CRAZY CHRIS said:

I remember the QF in 2002 England V Brazil at 7.30am on a Friday. Watched first half at home then second half in daughter's school hall, all parents and pupils crammed in as head had wheeled in 2 TV's. Brazil won.

I just loved Henrik Larssons hair at the time and Romario was a goal machine!!

Group A	Mexico (15)	South Africa (61)	South Korea (22)	Denmark (21)/North Macedonia (65) vs. Czech Republic (44)/Republic of Ireland (59)
Group B	Canada (27)	Wales (32)/Bosnia-Herzegovina (71) vs. Italy (12)/Northern Ireland (69)	Qatar (51)	Switzerland (17)
Group C	Brazil (5)	Morocco (11)	Haiti (84)	Scotland (36)
Group D	United States (14)	Paraguay (39)	Australia (26)	Slovakia (45)/Kosovo (80) vs. Turkey (25)/Romania (47)
Group E	Germany (9)	Curaçao (82)	Ivory Coast (42)	Ecuador (23)
Group F	Netherlands (7)	Japan (18)	Ukraine (28)/Sweden (43) vs. Poland (31)/Albania (63)	Tunisia (40)
Group G	Belgium (8)	Egypt (34)	Iran (20)	New Zealand (86)
Group H	Spain (1)	Cape Verde (68)	Saudi Arabia (60)	Uruguay (16)
Group I	France (3)	Senegal (19)	Iraq (58) vs. Bolivia (76)/Suriname (123)	Norway (29)
Group J	Argentina (2)	Algeria (35)	Austria (24)	Jordan (66)
Group K	Portugal (6)	Congo DR (56) vs. Jamaica (70)/New Caledonia (149)	Uzbekistan (50)	Colombia (13)
Group L	England (4)	Croatia (10)	Ghana (72)	Panama (30)

Edited December 8, 2025Dec 8 by DJHazey

Rankings the groups by entertainment value. Factors: quality of play, competitive matches/advancement.

Cinema

Group I - Closest to a group of death that there is. I wouldn't even be shocked if France were 3rd.

Great

Group A - Any of the four teams could win the group. Mexico is on home soil and at altitude but are very beatable these days especially by any of South Africa, South Korea, or Denmark?

Group J - Argentina should win this comfortably, but the battle for 2nd will be a three-horse race. Yes, I said three-horse. Don't sleep on Jordan. The matches between the bottom 3 could be explosive and there will be goals scored, especially from Jordan and Algeria.

Group C - Up here because of Brazil vs. Morocco mainly. Poor Scotland having a very tough group and Haiti, especially as they add call-ups to their squad, won't be a pushover for Scotland.

Group K - This group could be chaotic, don't just assume this will go to the Portuguese. Don't sleep on Uzbekistan and potentially Congo DR as teams that could upset the apple cart. I'd actually favor Colombia to win this group outright.

Group D - This will be a full-on battle between any of the four teams, especially if Turkey make it here. Australia and Paraguay are capable, but their play-style isn't exciting which puts it a bit down the list. Turkey will make up for that if they qualify.

Good

Group F - Has potential but I'll put it here for now. Depends on if Tunisia is really improved since their last World Cup was abysmal. Watch the Arab Cup and more-so the African Nations Cup results this month to see how they look. That goes for all the African nations as well. Otherwise, this will be just Netherlands and Japan running the show. If we get Poland it might add something, otherwise I don't even expect much out of any of the potential European sides.

Group B - It will be a very interesting showdown between Canada, Switzerland, and potentially Italy for sure. Not sure how exciting the matches will actually be though. Qatar might be the worst team in the tournament though, which drags it down.

Meh

Group L - Sure, England vs. Croatia re-match gets all the headlines, but other than that this group won't provide much excitement. Might be the easiest to predict a Top 2. This isn't the same Ghana.

Group E - Should be all Germany, with one-sided affairs against Curaçao and Ecuador/Ivory Coast don't provide much attacking football these days though they should be a close battle for second.

Group H - Spain winning ugly matches, even something like 2-0 over Uruguay if you think that will be exciting, I don't think it will be. The only thing entertaining will be seeing if Cape Verde can provide some shocks.

Zzz - What's on streaming instead?

Group G - Worst group by a margin. Belgum is the front-runner but how exciting are they these days? Egypt, Iran and New Zealand all play slow, methodically at the moment so expect at least a couple 0-0 matches.

Edited December 10, 2025Dec 10 by DJHazey

World Cup 2026 group TV schedule

(All times BST)

11 June: Mexico v South Africa (20:00 BST) - ITV

12 June: South Korea v play-off D (03:00) - ITV

12 June: Canada v play-off A (20:00) - BBC

13 June: USA v Paraguay (02:00) - BBC

13 June: Qatar v Switzerland (20:00) - ITV

13 June: Brazil v Morocco (23:00) - BBC

14 June: Australia v play-off C (05:00) - ITV

14 June: Scotland v Haiti (02.00) - BBC

14 June: Germany v Curacao (18:00) - ITV

14 June: Netherlands v Japan (21:00) - ITV

15 June: Play-off B v Tunisia (03:00) - ITV

15 June: Ivory Coast v Ecuador (00:00) - BBC

15 June: Spain v Cape Verde (17:00) - ITV

15 June: Belgium v Egypt (20:00) - BBC

15 June: Saudi Arabia v Uruguay (23:00) - ITV

16 June: Iran v New Zealand (02:00) - BBC

16 June: France v Senegal (20:00) - BBC

16 June: Play-off 2 v Norway (23:00) - BBC

17 June: Argentina v Algeria (02:00) - ITV

17 June: Austria v Jordan (05:00) - BBC

17 June: Portugal v play-off 1 (18:00) - BBC

17 June: England v Croatia (21:00) - ITV

18 June: Ghana v Panama (00:00) - ITV

18 June: Uzbekistan v Colombia (03:00) - BBC

18 June: South Africa v play-off D (17:00) - BBC

18 June: Play-off A v Switzerland (20:00) - ITV

18 June: Canada v Qatar (23:00) - ITV

19 June: Mexico v South Korea (02:00) - BBC

19 June: USA v Australia (20:00) - BBC

19 June: Scotland v Morocco (23:00) - ITV

20 June: Paraguay v play-off C (05:00) - ITV

20 June: Brazil v Haiti (02:00) - ITV

20 June: Netherlands v play-off B (18:00) - BBC

20 June: Germany v Ivory Coast (21:00) - ITV

21 June: Japan v Tunisia (05:00) - BBC

21 June: Curacao v Ecuador (01:00) - BBC

21 June: Spain v Saudi Arabia (17:00) - BBC

21 June: Belgium v Iran (20:00) - ITV

21 June: Cape Verde v Uruguay (23:00) - BBC

22 June: Egypt v New Zealand (02:00) - ITV

22 June: Argentina v Austria (18:00) - BBC

22 June: France v play-off 2 (22:00) - BBC

23 June: Senegal v Norway (01:00) - ITV

23 June: Algeria v Jordan (04:00) - ITV

23 June: Portugal v Uzbekistan (18:00) - ITV

23 June: England v Ghana (21:00) - BBC

24 June: Croatia v Panama (00:00) - BBC

24 June: Colombia v play-off 1 (03:00) - ITV

24 June: Canada v Switzerland & Play-off A v Qatar (20:00) - ITV

24 June: Scotland v Brazil & Morocco v Haiti (23:00) - BBC

25 June: Mexico v play-off D & South Africa v South Korea (02:00) - BBC

25 June: Germany v Ecuador & Curacao v Ivory Coast (21:00) - BBC

26 June: USA v play-off C & Paraguay v Australia (03:00) - ITV

26 June: Japan v play-off B & Netherlands v Tunisia (00:00) - BBC

26 June: France v Norway & Senegal v play-off 2 (20:00) - ITV

27 June: Cape Verde v Saudi Arabia & Uruguay v Spain (01:00) - ITV

27 June: Egypt v Iran & New Zealand v Belgium (04:00) - BBC

27 June: England v Panama & Croatia v Ghana (22:00) - ITV

28 June: Algeria v Austria & Argentina v Jordan (03:00) - BBC

28 June: Colombia v Portugal & play-off 1 v Uzbekistan (00:30) - BBC

2 games on ITV, should we be worried?

Yup. Itv is a bloody curse

Portugal is very lucky.

FIFA announced hydration breaks will be a thing and now are shopping the spots to companies for advertisements during them. shakes head Can it get any worse?

Edited December 12, 2025Dec 12 by DJHazey

I mean it was inevitable they were going to Superbowlify the World Cup in every way possible, did anyone really expect any different?

26 minutes ago, Dobbo said:

I mean it was inevitable they were going to Superbowlify the World Cup in every way possible, did anyone really expect any different?

Maybe, but we didn't have hydration breaks in 94 and haven't had actual commercials during them the last few World Cups that had the breaks. So I wasn't sure they'd actually stoop that low.