The momentum for the U.S. Men’s National Team has arguably never been higher after a thorough 4-1 victory over Paraguay to open the 2026 World Cup. But for their next two games, fans may be left wanting a bit of an easier path for following the USMNT.
The USA’s victory in their opening game in Los Angeles was one of the best single-game performances in the modern era of American soccer. And it has greatly increased the hype and interest in seeing just how far the team can go on home soil. The World Cup as a whole, and the USMNT in particular, are also off to historic starts as far as viewership numbers on television. The 2026 tournament has more than doubled the 2022 edition on Fox, and the USA-Paraguay game was watched by an incredible 25 million viewers between Fox and Telemundo.
The second game for the USA will be against Australia in Seattle with a 3 p.m. ET kickoff time on Friday. The final group game against Turkey is set for Thursday, June 25, at 10 p.m. ET in Los Angeles.
These times are less than optimal for the American viewing audience. Yes, this Friday is a national holiday, Juneteenth, so that should open up the viewership possibilities a great deal compared to other weekdays. But it’s also a mid-afternoon weekday start time for the East Coast and noon local in Seattle. That’s just not when sports fans are programmed to tune in to major events.
The 10 p.m. ET start time for the final game against Turkey is an even bigger ask for most fans across the country as the game won’t end until midnight on a weekday evening. We know how late start times are the bane of existence for sports fans across the eastern two-thirds of the country. Some events have taken a little bit of effort to make it more palatable in recent years, but it’s still an issue.
What makes it all the more strange is that there are plenty of other available start times on those dates with games happening throughout the day. The USA games against Australia and Turkey could have both theoretically aired during primetime at a reasonable 8 p.m. ET or 7 p.m. ET start times when other matches are taking place.
So how did we get here? Is this just obtuse decision-making from the World Cup organizers to not do everything they can to maximize the audience in their biggest home market? And could Fox have had a say to get better windows for the USMNT?
The truth is actually very complicated.
The locations for World Cup games were decided all the way back in 2024, long before the draw was actually finalized. In February 2024, hosts were determined as FIFA studied logistics, travel for teams, rest days, and many other factors. That was when it was announced that the USMNT would start their World Cup in Los Angeles.
🗣️ “We are the U.S. opening game.” 🇺🇸#WeAre26 | #FIFAWorldCup
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) February 4, 2024
However, FIFA said after the World Cup draw in December 2025 that, “Hosts Canada, Mexico and the USA – the only sides that already knew their match venues – learned their opponents and kick-off times within the past 24 hours.”
FIFA also detailed the exact specifics of how the full schedule with dates, locations, and start times came together. And it confirms that global audience viewership factors and fans being able to follow their teams were taken into account.
Since the publication of the first version in February 2024, the FIFA World Cup match schedule has been designed to minimise travel for teams and fans, and to maximise rest days between matches for all participating teams. The now-finalised allocation of venues and kick-off times aims to optimise welfare conditions for players and supporters, while enabling the widest possible global audience to follow their teams across different time zones.
This complex exercise included a technical analysis of all venues – from average temperatures and cooling infrastructure to public transport and security – as well as collaborative discussions between various FIFA functional areas, including competition management, team services, medical, TV and broadcasting, and ticketing.
So while the dates and locations for USMNT games were locked in ages ago, it certainly appears that FIFA and Fox had the ability to at least provide the most optimal start times possible for games once the draw was finalized. Wouldn’t you want to put USA games in primetime on the East Coast as much as possible if you were FIFA and Fox Sports? Although you could make an argument the Friday afternoon holiday is better than an evening airing, the Thursday 10 p.m. ET start time is a tough pill to swallow for a lot of fans. Not to mention, these times don’t make a whole lot of sense for the USA’s opponents, either. If you live in Melbourne, you’ll need to wake up at 5 a.m. local time to catch Friday’s game. And next week, when the USA plays Turkey, residents of Istanbul will also need to wake up at 5 a.m. local time.
It seems FIFA’s scheduling left a lot to be desired for both Americans and their opponents.
