The time has finally come. It’s been 3 and a half long and painful years, but the World Cup is finally back and it’s right here in North America! Well I say North America but it’s really just hosted in the US with a few extra games to be played in Canada and Mexico. Out of the 16 host stadiums this tournament, 11 of them are in the states, so yeah, most of the attention is on us. But anyway, it’s here and it starts tomorrow. Tomorrow, at Noon Pacific time, (just an hour and 20 minutes before the school year is over!) Mexico will take on South Africa in the historical Estadio Azteca, although it’s known as “Mexico City Stadium” for the time being, all world cup stadiums got renamed to match the host city, with the exception of Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA, who really has no choice but to keep their name due to the giant Mercedes logo on the side of the stadium. Also tomorrow at 7pm is the other Group A match, South Korea vs. Czechia in Zapopan (2 of the 3 Mexican stadiums will be utilized tomorrow.) And then on Friday is Canada’s opening match in Toronto at noon vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina and the US’s opening match at 6 vs. Paraguay right down the road at Los Angeles (SoFi) Stadium. It’s fitting that the first World Cup match to be played in Mexico this summer will be a Mexico game, the first World Cup game in Canada is a Canada game, and the first US world cup match is a USMNT game. I guess it makes sense as the host nation is supposed to play the opening match of the tournament, so the opening match in each sector of the tournament will be by said host as well. Anyway here’s a brief schedule of Tomorrow and Friday’s games, plus every matchup that includes a big team thoughout this first matchweek of games.
Mexico vs. South Africa, Thursday, 12:00pm, FOX
South Korea vs. Czechia, Thursday, 7:00pm, FS1
Canada vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Friday, 12:00pm, FOX
USA vs. Paraguay, Friday, 6:00pm, FOX
Brazil vs. Morocco, Saturday, 3:00pm, FOX
Germany vs. Curacao, Sunday, 10:00am, FOX
Netherlands vs. Japan, Sunday, 1:00pm, FOX
Spain vs. Cabo Verde, Monday, 9:00am, FOX
Belgium vs. Egypt, Monday, 12:00pm, FOX
France vs. Senegal, Tuesday, 12:00pm, FOX
Argentina vs. Algeria, Tuesday, 6:00pm, FOX
Portugal vs. DR Congo, Wednesday, 10:00am, FOX
England vs. Croatia, Wednesday, 1:o0pm, FOX
I cannot stress enough JUST how convenient this is with the timing of school getting out, like, the first game of the summer starts during the last class of the year, that just seems too poetic like it’s on purpose. I’m looking at these Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday games, and it hasn’t occurred to me yet that I won’t have to watch these during school, I have this whole week off to do whatever I want. So, Aztecs, whether you’re attending or watching on TV, the World Cup is the perfect way to kick off your summer.
