Madrid, December 6 (EFE). – The Spanish team will begin its journey at the 2026 World Cup against Cape Verde in Atlanta (USA), the same venue where it will face Saudi Arabia, while it will complete the Group H phase in Guadalajara, Mexico against Uruguay.
Luis de la Fuente’s team starts against Cape Verde on June 15th at 12:00 local time (18:00 CET) and six days later, on June 21st, at the same time against Saudi Arabia. On the last matchday they will face Uruguay on the 26th at 8:00 p.m. in Guadalajara. local time (03:00 CET), as FIFA announced this Saturday.
At an event chaired by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and with contributions from Ronaldo Nazario, Francesco Totti, Hristo Stoichkov and Alexis Lalas, the final dates, venues and times of the 72 group stage matches of the 48 national teams, divided into 12 groups of four on Friday, were announced.
Spain will begin its bid to win its second World Cup on June 15 against Cape Verde, whom it has never played. The stage will be the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. On the same day, Uruguay plays against Saudi Arabia at the Hard Rock in Miami.
The Arab team, which was the only team to beat world champions Argentina at the last World Cup, will be Spain’s second opponent at 12:00 local time (6:00 p.m. CET), also in Atlanta and at the same time as the first game.
The European Cup winners will end the group stage against Uruguay in Group H’s most important head-to-head game, with the lead of the quartet potentially at stake, with Argentina at a crossroads. Spain will face the South American team for the first time at the World Cup on June 26th at 8:00 p.m. in Mexico. local time, but 3:00 a.m. in Spain.
If the Spanish team finishes first, it will not leave the United States and will travel through stadiums in Los Angeles and Dallas.
Meanwhile, the Argentine and French teams begin their World Cup journey on the same day, in different groups, on June 16 against Algeria and Senegal, respectively, and both will remain in the United States during the first phase.
The current champions, the Argentine team, will begin their title defense against Algeria in Kansas early in the European morning. Six days later they will face Austria in Dallas on June 27th, where they will also complete the group stage, and Jordan on June 27th at the same time.
France, for its part, will debut against Senegal at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, New York, and then play against a playoff rival in Philadelphia on the second day.
The duel between Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe is scheduled for June 26th at the Gillette Stadium in Boston, the final date of Group I. It will take place at 3:00 p.m. Local time, 9:00 p.m. European Time.
Mexico will play two games in Mexico City and another in Guadalajara. The opening game against South Africa takes place at 9:00 p.m. CET, at the Azteca Stadium.
Brazil will play Morocco in New Jersey, Haiti in Philadelphia and Scotland in Miami. The debut of Carlo Ancelotti’s team will take place at 00:00 Spanish time at the MetLife Stadium. The second game against Haiti at Lincoln Financial Field at 03:00 and against Scotland also at 00:00 CET.
The United States will face Paraguay on June 12 in Los Angeles. The South American team will also face a play-off team – Turkey, Romania, Slovakia and Kosovo – in San Francisco on June 19th and Australia on the final day, June 25th. Also in San Francisco. Meanwhile, the United States will do so in Los Angeles and Seattle. EFE