FIFA’s executive committee has approved the match kickoff times for the 2018 Men’s World Cup. Most matches are late in the evening; only ten are due to kick off earlier than 16:00 Moscow time.

The teams’ first two group matches all kick off at either 12:00, 15:00, or 18:00 UTC [15:00, 18:00, or 21:00 Moscow time], with the exception of the Group C and D matches on SAT 16 JUN 2018, which kick off every three hours from 10:00 UTC [13:00 MSK] to 19:00 UTC [22:00 MSK].

Starting with the last matchday of the group phase through to the third place match, each match kicks off at either 14:00 UTC or 18:00 UTC. The final will be played at 15:00 UTC [18:00 MSK] on SUN 15 JUL 2018 in Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

FIFA plans to assign kickoff times to individual matches in MAR 2016, with some kickoff swaps likely to occur after the final draw in late 2017.

In addition, FIFA also announced venue swaps for six matches. The C1-C3 match in Group C on THU 21 JUN 2018, the H4-H2 match in Group H on SUN 24 JUN 2018, and the F2-F3 match in Group F on WED 27 JUN 2018 were all moved from Kaliningrad to Yekaterinburg, and the E4-E2 match in Group E on FRI 22 JUN 2018, the B2-B3 match in Group B on MON 25 JUN 2018, and the G4-G1 match in Group G on THU 28 JUN 2018 were all moved from Yekaterinburg to Kaliningrad. Both venues therefore retain a total of four matches, all in the group phase.

All tournament venues are in Moscow time [UTC+03:00] except for three that have their own eponymous time zones: Yekaterinburg [UTC+05:00], Samara [UTC+04:00], and Kaliningrad [UTC+02:00].

Kickoff times:

• THU 14 JUN 2018: [Opening match]
  • 15:00 UTC = 18:00 MSK
• FRI 15 JUN 2018, SUN 17-SUN 24 JUN 2018: [Group phase]
  • 12:00 UTC = 15:00 MSK
  • 15:00 UTC = 18:00 MSK
  • 18:00 UTC = 21:00 MSK
• SAT 16 JUN 2018: [Group phase]
  • 10:00 UTC = 13:00 MSK
  • 13:00 UTC = 16:00 MSK
  • 16:00 UTC = 19:00 MSK
  • 19:00 UTC = 22:00 MSK
• MON 25 JUN-SAT 07 JUL 2018: [Group phase, round of 16, quarterfinals]
  • 14:00 UTC = 17:00 MSK
  • 18:00 UTC = 21:00 MSK
• TUE 10-WED 11 JUL 2018: [Semifinals]
  • 18:00 UTC = 21:00 MSK
• SAT 14 JUL 2018: [Third place match]
  • 14:00 UTC = 17:00 MSK
• SUN 15 JUL 2018: [Final match]
  • 15:00 UTC = 18:00 MSK