2026 World Cup schedule: Which teams will play in Seattle

The matchups and kickoff times for the four group-stage World Cup matches in Seattle next summer were announced by FIFA on Saturday morning.

The headliner is the United States-Australia matchup, which will be July 19 at noon.

The other three group-stage matches in Seattle are Belgium vs. Egypt (June 15 at noon), Qatar vs. one of the European playoff winners (June 24 at noon) and Egypt vs. Iran (June 26 at 8 p.m.).

Seattle also will host a pair of knockout-stage matches – a round-of-32 match on July 1 at 1 p.m. and a round-of-16 match on July 6 at 5 p.m.

Belgium is No. 8 in the FIFA world rankings, which makes it the highest-ranked team headed to Seattle for the group stage. Italy is No. 12, but still needs to win a pair of playoff matches to qualify for the World Cup.

Of the other Seattle-bound teams, the U.S. is ranked No. 14, Iran is No. 20, Australia is No. 26, Egypt is No. 34 and Qatar is No. 51.

Seattle is one of 16 North American cities that will host the 2026 World Cup. There are 10 other host cities in the U.S. (Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia and the San Francisco Bay Area), three in Mexico (Guadalajara, Monterrey and Mexico City) and two in Canada (Toronto and Vancouver).

All matches in Seattle will be held at Lumen Field – or “Seattle Stadium,” as it will be named for the tournament.

This is the first-ever 48-team World Cup, which has been expanded from the 32-team format of years past.

The 48 teams are split into 12 groups of four teams apiece. Every team plays three round-robin group matches. The top two finishers in each group and the eight best third-place group finishers advance to the 32-team knockout stage of the tournament. From there, it’s single-elimination the rest of the way.

The World Cup begins June 11 and runs through the July 19 final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

World Cup schedule for Seattle

Here’s the schedule for the six World Cup matches in Seattle:

• Group G: Belgium vs. Egypt – June 15 at noon

• Group D: United States vs. Australia – July 19 at noon

• Group B: Qatar vs. European playoff winner A (Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales or Bosnia-Herzegovina) – June 24 at noon

• Group G: Egypt vs. Iran – June 26 at 8 p.m.

• Round of 32: TBD vs. TBD – July 1 at 1 p.m.

• Round of 16: TBD vs. TBD – July 6 at 5 p.m.

World Cup draw: United States to face Australia in Seattle

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