Spain highlights Atlanta’s World Cup matches
Atlanta’s first World Cup matches will feature Spain playing two group-stage games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, according to the schedule released by FIFA on Saturday.
What on Friday featured numerous interesting possibilities that included Spain, Brazil and Portugal for the five group-stage matches that will be played in the city next summer turned into a rather deflating reveal because only Spain was selected, combined with several lesser-quality national teams and early start times determined by FIFA.
- June 15: Spain vs. Cape Verde, noon
- June 18: South Africa vs. playoff winner (Denmark, North Macedonia, Czechia or Ireland), noon
- June 21: Spain vs. Saudi Arabia, noon
- June 24: Morocco vs. Haiti, 6 p.m.
- June 27: Uzbekistan vs. playoff winner (DR Congo, Jamaica, or New Caledonia), 7:30 p.m.
- July 1: Round of 32, noon
- July 7: Round of 16, noon
- July 15: Semifinal, 3 p.m.
Spain, the 2010 champs with a roster that features Lamine Yamal, Rodri and Pedri, are the far-and-away highlight. Spain could end up playing as many as five matches in Atlanta, depending upon how it finishes in Group H and how far it advances in the knockout rounds.
Spain, at No. 1, is the highest ranked team that will play in Atlanta. Morocco, No. 11, is the next highest. Morocco became the first African country to reach the tournament semifinals in Qatar in 2022. Denmark, if it wins its playoff, would be third highest at No. 21, followed by No. 44 Czechia, No. 50 Uzbekistan, No. 56 DR Congo, No. 59 Ireland, No. 60 Saudi Arabia, No. 65 North Macedonia, No. 68 Cape Verde, No. 70 Jamaica, No. 84 Haiti and No. 149 New Caledonia.
Cape Verde and Uzbekistan will make their World Cup debuts, as could North Macedonia and New Caledonia. Congo hasn’t qualified since 1974. It will be interesting to see how many supporters those countries, along with South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Haiti will bring.
By contrast, Dallas will host in its group-stage matches Argentina, England, Netherlands, Croatia, Japan and Austria. All are ranked No. 24 or higher with large groups of passionate traveling supporters.
Atlanta’s best bet for sold-out matches likely will be if one of the European countries wins the playoff to face South Africa, and for Jamaica to win its playoff to face Uzbekistan.
The qualifying playoffs are scheduled to start March 26 and end March 31.
The tournament will start with Mexico hosting South Africa on June 11 at Azteca Stadium. The championship match is scheduled to be played July 19 in East Rutherford, N.J.
The U.S. team will play Paraguay at 9 p.m. EDT June 12 in Los Angeles, followed by Australia at 3 p.m. EDT June 19 in Seattle, and ending its group stage against a playoff winner at 10 p.m. EDT June 25 in Los Angeles.
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