World Cup 2026 kickoff times in JST

JST (UTC+9) means World Cup 2026 plays out in Japanese mornings and early afternoons — the friendlier end of the timezone spread. The opener is Friday 12 June at 04:00 JST, the final is Monday 20 July at 04:00 JST.

Most of the group stage sits in a civilised 06:00–14:00 JST window. For Japan (Group F) fans, the fixtures against the Netherlands, Sweden and Tunisia are all daytime kickoffs locally.