The World Cup 2014 opening match round schedule is all set after the draw was released last week and the 32 teams and eight groups now know where they will play their first round fixtures and after some pressure, FIFA decided to change the times of some of those matches, as they are being played in some of the hotter climates in Brazil and it was done for player safety.
The opening round had seven group matches change their kick off times and that is good news for the fans, teams, players and officials that were worried about temperatures in Brazil for the tournament. There are a number of tough group opening matches and some entertaining draws, including Spain playing against the Netherlands and Brazil starting off against Croatia while the United States will start up against Ghana, who has beaten them in the past two tournaments.
Some of the Manaus matches as well as ones in Recife and Rio di Janeiro were amended for the tournament and some teams involved includes Japan, England, Italy, Chile, the united States, Portugal, Russia as well as the Ivory Coast. The schedule offers some amazing matchups and the US will have to travel over 8,000 miles to see their schedule completed.
Check here for the full World Cup schedule.
From Reuters.com on the World Cup schedule:
World soccer body FIFA has revised kick-off times for seven group matches at next year's World Cup finals in Brazil, including four in the hottest venues.
In a statement on their website (www.fifa.com), FIFA confirmed the 64-match schedule for the finals with amended start times for three fixtures in the Amazonian city of Manaus and one in Recife.
These included England's Group D meeting with Italy in Manaus on June 14, and the United States' Group G clash with Portugal in the same city on June 22.
The following kick-off times have been adjusted (all times stated are local):
Saturday 14 June
Ivory Coast v Japan, 2200 (from 1900) in Recife
England v Italy, 1800 (from 2100) in Manaus
Wednesday 18 June
Cameroon v Croatia, 1800 (from 1500) in Manaus
Spain v Chile, 1600 (from 1900) in Rio de Janeiro
Sunday 22 June
United States v Portugal, 1800 (from 1500) in Manaus
Belgium v Russia, 1300 (from 1900) in Rio de Janeiro
South Korea v Algeria, 1600 (from 1300) in Porto Alegre.
