One of the main reasons cited by many UK-based Fantasy managers for not playing the FIFA World Cup 2026 game is the fact that so many matches will kick off in the early hours.
Given that manual substitutions and captaincy changes can be made before every match, it’s perfectly understandable.
So, if the idea of setting an early alarm to manage your Fantasy team doesn’t appeal, yet you still want to play, we’ve looked at the kick-off times of all 48 participating nations to see which of them has the most sleep-friendly schedule.
We’ve also built a draft which focuses solely on players who have kick-off times between 17:00 and 23:00 BST!
AT-A-GLANCE KICK-OFF TIMES
In total, there are 14 different kick-off times in the group stage!
In the UK, they range from 17:00 BST for the earliest matches to as late as 05:00 BST for some West Coast games.
However, nine nations – including France, England and Germany – will play all of their group stage matches at palatable times.
No. of group stage fixtures kicking off between 17:00 and 23:00 BST:
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | Spain | Argentina | Colombia |
| England | Portugal | Mexico | Turkiye |
| Morocco | Brazil | USA | Korea Republic |
| Germany | Netherlands | Japan | Algeria |
| Switzerland | Belgium | Iran | Paraguay |
| Canada | Croatia | Austria | Tunisia |
| Qatar | Senegal | Ecuador | Jordan |
| Iraq | Uruguay | Australia | New Zealand |
| Bosnia + Herzegovina | Norway | Egypt | |
| Cote d’Ivoire | Panama | ||
| Scotland | Sweden | ||
| South Africa | Czechia | ||
| Saudi Arabia | DR Congo | ||
| Capo Verde | Uzbekistan | ||
| Ghana | Haiti | ||
| Curacao |
Looking further ahead, only six out of the 16 round-of-32 matches will take place during the early hours.
This drops to just two of the round-of-16 ties, and one for the quarter-finals.
Both the semi-finals and final kick off at 20:00 BST, while the third-place play-off gets underway at 22:00 BST, so it certainly gets better as the tournament progresses – depending on where you are based, of course.
THE SLEEP-FRIENDLY FANTASY FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 XV
This draft we’ve put together focuses solely on Rounds 1 and 2. The intention is to Wildcard in Round 3, when squad rotation may be rife.
Crucially, every player featured here will have kick-offs between 17:00 and 23:00 BST in the first two rounds.
In goal, we’ve opted for Maxime Crepeau ($4.0m) and Sergio Rochet ($4.1m). Both options are cheap and have decent clean sheet potential in Rounds 1 and 2. At the time of writing, both ‘keepers will also qualify for Scouting Bonus points.
Defensively, we’ve included Nuno Mendes ($5.8m), Joshua Kimmich ($5.5m) and Marc Cucurella ($5.1m) for obvious reasons, which you can read more about here.
They get to face the likes of Curacao, Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia in the first two rounds. You can sit down and enjoy the matches, too, with kick-off times ranging from 17:00 to 21:00 BST.
Joining them are Manuel Akanji ($5.0m) and budget enabler Alistair Johnston ($4.0m). They both face Qatar and Bosnia and Herzegovina in Group B.
Further forward, the midfield is stacked with heavy hitters, with the expectation that Lamine Yamal ($10.0m) will be fit for Round 1. He faces Cape Verde first, while Musiala and Florian Wirtz ($7.5m) take on tournament minnows Curacao.
Elsewhere, Bruno Fernandes ($8.5m) has DR Congo, so there is clear haul potential in the middle of the park.
Switzerland penalty taker Granit Xhaka ($6.2m) is our midfield enabler.
Up top, Kylian Mbappe ($10.5m) is joined by Mikel Oyarzabal ($8.1m) and Jonathan David ($7.0m), who should qualify for the Scouting Bonus. He’s had an underwhelming season at Juventus but will likely be Canada’s main goal threat at the World Cup.
Harry Kane ($10.5m) is an alternative option to Mbappe, should you want some England representation.
One downside to this approach is that the match between Brazil and Haiti, perhaps the best fixture to target in Round 2, takes place at 01:30 BST on Saturday 20 June.
However, line-ups will be out just after midnight. It’s Friday night, too, so you could switch out Jamal Musiala ($8.0m) for Raphinha ($8.2m) prior to Round 2’s deadline. This draft has $0.7m left in the bank for that precise reason.
Alternatively, you could use the 12th Man chip on Vinicius Junior ($10.0m).
For Round 3, if you want to continue with this approach, it’s Groups B, C, E, I and L with palatable kick-off times.
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