Afternoon Soccer

Throughout the Club World Cup, the complaints have mostly been about the empty seats in the stadiums and the questioning of some match times.  Which is silly because part of the reason certain matches were scheduled for the afternoon is because that's primetime in Europe.  (And, in fairness, people weren't gonna show up for some random game on a Tuesday in Atlanta whether it was scheduled for 9 pm or noon.)  It isn't just the empty seats at the midday matches that has drawn criticism.  It's also the temperature.

In fact, FIFPRO, the pro soccer players' union, brought up its concerns about next year's World Cup directly to FIFA.  Specifically, they're concerned about the heat in certain cities and don't want afternoon games scheduled there if it can be avoided.  The Club World Cup has had some hot games that required hydration breaks in places like Cincinnati (which isn't a World Cup host) and Philadelphia, and six of the World Cup host cities have been deemed "high-risk" for extreme heat.  Those six cities shouldn't surprise anyone: Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Miami and Monterrey.  Newsflash: it's hot in the South in the Summer!  What do they expect?

Among the many reasons those "concerns" are silly is because of the location of the last World Cup.  It was in freakin' Qatar!  A place so hot that they had to reschedule the entire tournament to November-December!  And the 2014 World Cup was in Brazil, with games being played in the middle of the freakin' Amazon rainforest in Manaus!  So why is Summer heat in the United States (which is nothing new) suddenly such a problem?

I also find it funny that three of the six cities that were mentioned as particularly "high-risk" have indoor stadiums!  And the heat is a big reason why they do!  So, yes, it'll be hot outside in Atlanta, Dallas and Houston, but the games in those cities will be played under a roof in climate-controlled settings.  Which means you can play there really anytime.  If you want to stay away from a noon start in Miami, fine.  That makes sense.  But a noon start in Atlanta really shouldn't be a problem (I'm assuming they won't schedule a game at 11 AM local time in either Texas city).

Their concerns can't really be with the thought of afternoon games in general, because that's just asinine if it is!  Of course there's going to be afternoon games!  There are in every World Cup.  There has to be when scheduling four games a day every day for three weeks.  Especially since afternoon in the United States is primetime in Europe.  Would they rather play the 9:00 game and have it start in the middle of the night back home?  Because that's exactly what the European team in the United States or Mexico's group will have at least once.

Another important thing to remember is that the U.S. is unlike most European countries in that it has multiple time zones.  In the 2022 World Cup, all the stadiums were so close to each other that it really didn't matter where a game was being played.  It could be scheduled whenever.  In 2026, that won't be the case.  Only the games on the East Coast can be in that early slot. 

On June 19, for example, the games are being played in Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle that day.  The United States is playing in Seattle, which will be the 9:00 game.  (I'm assuming they'll do 12/3/6/9 for start times, but it could also be 1/4/7/10.)  They're not scheduling a game in San Francisco for 9:00 in the morning, so the only options for the noon game are Boston and Philadelphia.

A better example might actually be June 18.  The games that day are in Atlanta, LA, Vancouver and Guadalajara.  But here's the catch--the games in Vancouver and Guadalajara are Canada and Mexico home games.  And, since LA's on the West Coast, guess what that means...the early game is in Atlanta!  There's no way around it.  But, again, why is that an issue when Mercedes-Benz Stadium is a dome?

It's worth noting, too, that no game times have been announced yet.  We know which cities will have games on a particular day, but they won't determine the times until after the draw is made in December.  You can rest assured that the three host countries and likely Brazil and Argentina will almost certainly have either 6:00 or 9:00 Eastern starts regardless of where they're playing.  Either way, no matter what the start time is, it's probably gonna be hot (unless you get a game on the East Coast that starts at 9:00).

You know the other reason why all of this complaining about game times is silly?  Because what we've long suspected has pretty much been confirmed.  The final will be at 3:00 in the afternoon.  That was obvious from the beginning, and the Governor of New Jersey has all but announced it, even though it's not yet official.  And it's hot in the middle of the afternoon in New Jersey in July!  But, you know what?  They ain't rescheduling the final for the evening and an inconvenient time for European television.  (And, would they rather it be in LA with a noon local start time like in 1994?)

Although, I am curious about what the game times for the semifinals will be.  Because there's a conflict for that first semifinal on Tuesday that I don't think many people have considered, but is very real.  For all that's been made about NBC having a busy February with the Winter Olympics, Super Bowl and NBA All*Star Game all going on concurrently, FOX will be just as busy in July with the World Cup and MLB All*Star Game, which is being played in Philadelphia next year for obvious reasons.

The World Cup semifinal on that Tuesday is in Dallas.  Jerry World has a roof, so playing an afternoon game wouldn't be a problem.  So, I can easily envision a 3:00 Central kickoff, which would give them plenty of time even if there's extra time and a shootout to finish the game and be off the air before heading to Philadelphia for the All*Star Game at 7:30 (and could easily be pushed back to 8:00 if need-be).  Then you also schedule the Wednesday semifinal in Atlanta (which, again, also has a roof) for 4:00.

That would obviously be the most convenient thing for European TV, and playing the semifinals in the afternoon would make sense since the final will also be in the afternoon.  But it's also hard to imagine them not scheduling the World Cup semifinals at night.  And, if they do, what about the All*Star Game?  Because it's also hard to envision MLB pushing the All*Star Game back to July 21, which would be awfully late!

They'll figure it out with MLB regarding the All*Star Game.  I'm sure those conversations have already started.  But, either way, there will be afternoon games during the World Cup.  To suggest there shouldn't be is simply ridiculous.  Especially since there would be just as much, if not more, complaining if it was the other way around.  If all of the games were scheduled for the evening, European fans wouldn't be happy the games are in the middle of the night their time.  You can't have it both ways!  It's one or the other.  It's either the afternoon locally or the middle of the night back home.