The World Cup schedule for the Brazil 2014 tournament starts on June 12 as the host nation plays against Croatia and that comes before the rest of the matches kick off and the soccer games continue on dates through the next two weeks, shaking out the group round as teams try to advance to the knockout stage and teams like the United States, Portugal, Argentina, Spain, Germany, England, France and Mexico are looking for strong showings in their first matches.
The first game is on Thursday, June 12 as Brazil and Croatia kick things off for Group A, while Mexico and Cameroon are playing the second game of the tournament, starting off Friday with their match. Spain begins their title defense against the Netherlands at 3 pm on Friday, while Chile and Australia play at 6 pm ET and that will complete the first matches of Group A and Group B.
The weekend has a full slate of games, with Colombia taking on Greece at 12 pm ET in Group C, while Uruguay and Costa Rica kick off Group D at 3 pm ET. England and Italy are playing a very anticipated group D match and players like Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge will be looking to put the 2010 World Cup performance behind them. Ivory Coast and Japan finish things off on Friday and then on Sunday the Swiss take on Ecuador, while France and Honduras play before Argentina and Bosnia-Herzegovina and that means Lionel Messi is in action.
The Monday schedule has big matches, as Group G Starts off and that means the group of death is in action with the United States playing against Ghana and Germany opening against Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal. Iran and Nigeria are playing the other match and then Brazil will play their second game on Tuesday along with Russia opening against South Korea.
