World Cup final will be an afternoon match at MetLife Stadium, allowing prime-time viewing in Europe

WASHINGTON (AP) — The World Cup final will kick off at 3 p.m. EDT next July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

FIFA announced the start times for the tournament's 104 matches on Saturday, a day after the draw for the expanded 48-nation tournament. The kickoff time allows for prime-time viewing in Europe, where it will be 9 p.m., and Britain, where it will be 8 p.m.

The average 3 p.m. temperature over the past 30 years in East Rutherford on July 19 is 83 degrees (28 Celsius) with a RealFeel index of 89 (32), according to AccuWeather.

Nine of the 10 World Cup finals from 1978 through 2014 started in the 2-3:30 p.m. EDT range, the exception 2002 in Japan, which began at 7 a.m. EDT. The 2018 final started at 11 a.m. EDT and the 2022 championship of a tournament shifted to winter in Qatar at 10 a.m. EST.

The 1994 final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, kicked off at 12:30 p.m. local time (3:30 p.m. EDT).

The World Cup opener at Mexico City on June 11 between El Tri and South Africa will start at 1 p.m. local (3 p.m. EDT).

Semifinals will start at 2 p.m. (3 p.m. EDT) on July 14 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and 3 p.m. the following day at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, both of which have retractable roofs.

FIFA announced on Feb. 4 last year that the final was scheduled for New Jersey and that June 12 revealed site-specific matchups for games in the new round of 32, round of 16, quarterfinals and semifinals.

Seventy-eight games will be in the U.S., including all from the quarterfinals on, and 13 apiece in Canada and Mexico.

During an event at the Capital Hilton, FIFA also announced sites of the 54 group stage games not finalized with Friday's draw, which fixed venues for only Groups A, B and D — which include co-hosts Mexico, Canada and the United States.

South Korea is the only team other than Canada and Mexico with no games in the U.S., playing its opener in Guadalajara against the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland or North Macedonia, then facing El Tri at the same venue and finishing the round against South Africa in Monterrey.

The U.S. first-round games will be a 6 p.m. local start (9 p.m. EDT) against Paraguay at Inglewood on June 12, a noon kickoff (3 p.m. EDT) vs. Australia at Seattle seven days later and a 7 p.m. start on June 25 at SoFi against Turkey, Romania, Slovakia or Kosovo.