The World Cup 2014 tournament schedule in Brazil starts on Thursday, June 12 for the opening match between the host nation and Croatia and the ESPN channel has the TV coverage starting at 4 pm ET at the Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo and that match starts ahead of the second day of play when Mexico, Cameroon, Spain, the Netherlands, Chile and Australia are in action.
The first day of the tournament has just one game for the opener with Brazil starting off Group A and on Friday the other two teams in the group play with Mexico and Cameroon playing in Natal at 12 pm ET and that will be in Natal, while the Netherlands and defending champion Spain start Group B with a match on ESPN at 3 pm ET from Salvador. The final match on Friday has Australia and Chile playing in Cuiaba and that game is at 6 pm ET on ESPN2.
The Saturday schedule starts up at 12 pm noon with Greece playing against Colombia at Belo Horizonte and that starts off play for Group C. Uruguay and Costa Rica matchup in the first Group D match and that starts at 3 pm ET on ABC before England and Italy play one of the most anticipated matchups of the group stage and that will be at 6 pm ET at the Arena Amazonia in Manaus. Wayne Rooney and the England team are looking to make an impact in Brazil and they are in a tough group with Italy as well as Uruguay and Costa Rica and if Luis Suarez is healthy that could really make it a hard group to advance out of.
Ivory Coast and Japan finish off the Saturday schedule with a match at 9 pm ET and that is on ESPN before things pick up on Sunday in Brasilia with Switzerland playing against Ecuador at 12 pm noon ET on ABC to kick off coverage. France is coming with some high expectations as well and they are starting off against Honduras in Porto Alegre and that match is at 3 pm ET on ABC before Argentina and Bosnia-Herzegovina play in Rio de Janeiro on ESPN at 6 pm ET.
Group G starts off on Monday, June 16 and that is the group of death with the United States, Ghana and Portugal. Cristiano Ronaldo has started training for Portugal and he is the key player for the team heading into the tournament and if he can't go for some of the games it will be hard to advance to the knockout stage. Germany is one of the favorites and they are likely to get out of the group, while Ghana has eliminated the US over the past two World Cup tournaments. The US Opens with Ghana at 6 pm on Monday, while Germany and Portugal will play to open their schedule.
Check here for the 2014 World Cup schedule and match coverage for the Brazil tournament.
