What times are the Women's World Cup games played?

The 2022 men’s World Cup is in the history books, and now just seven months away the biggest event for the women kicks off in Australia and New Zealand at the expanded 32-team 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Kickoff times for viewers in the United States were less-than-ideal for games coming from Qatar, and unfortunately it will be a little worse this upcoming summer. So what times are the Women’s World Cup games played?

This will be the first women’s or men’s World Cup to be played in the Asia/Oceania region since the 2007 Women’s World Cup in China, and many kickoff times will be inconvenient for US viewers. But since the tournament is spread out over four time zones, stretching all the way from Perth, Australia in the western zone to New Zealand’s four host cities in the east, a few of the times actually work out alright:

Of specific importance to many fans in the US will be the USWNT’s schedule as they attempt to become the first team ever – men’s or women’s – to win three consecutive World Cups. For the group stage the USWNT is based in New Zealand for all three matches, and due to the massive time difference there is a fun quirk. For most of the US, the games will be happening the next day in New Zealand. That is to say, for example, the opener vs Vietnam will kickoff at 9:00 PM, July 21st on the east coast, but in New Zealand it will be 1:00 PM, July 22nd at kickoff.

The first two USWNT games are right in primetime for much of the country, and even at 6PM on the west coast, that leaves enough time for most fans to head home or off to the pub to catch the games. But the finale against the Group A inter-confederation playoff winner will have everyone up in the middle of the night.

Only two knockout stage matches are scheduled for what would be reasonable times for US viewers (one Round of 16 and one Quarterfinal match at 8PM ET and 9PM ET respectively). The final on August 20th is set for a 8:00 PM local kickoff in Sydney at Stadium Australia (aka the 2000 Summer Olympic Stadium) which will work out to 6:00AM ET / 3:00AM PT.

So get those PJs and coffee ready for some very late night (or early morning, depending on how you look at it) World Cup action.