Evening World Cup starts for England, while Scotland encounters a 2am start.

UK audiences will benefit from favorable kick-off times for England’s World Cup matches, while those following Scotland may have to deal with later finish times during the tournament next summer.

All three group matches for England will take place in the USA, with the first two against Croatia on 17 June and Ghana on 23 June set to begin at 21:00 BST.

Their final group encounter with Panama on 27 June, held at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, is slated to kick off at 22:00 BST.

Scotland’s Group C matches will be in Boston and Miami; their opener versus Haiti takes place on 14 June at Gillette Stadium, starting at 02:00 BST.

The next two games for Steve Clarke’s team, against Morocco in Massachusetts on 19 June and Brazil in Miami on 24 June, will kick off at 23:00 BST.

England’s first match in Dallas will occur inside an air-conditioned AT&T Stadium as temperatures in Texas are expected to be high, with the game starting at 15:00 local time.

Temporary grass will be installed for the matches in Dallas and Boston, where Scotland will play twice, as those venues usually have artificial turf.

The kickoff for England’s game in Boston is at 16:00 local time, while Scotland’s matches at Gillette Stadium will take place at 21:00 and 18:00.

Scotland’s final group match against Brazil in Miami will start at 18:00 local time, a venue that could face extreme heat and humidity during the tournament next summer.

Should Wales or Northern Ireland qualify through two rounds of Uefa play-off matches in March, they would have all three group games scheduled at 20:00 BST.

They would meet Canada in Toronto on 12 June, Switzerland in Los Angeles on 18 June, and Qatar in Seattle on 24 June.

If a home nation reaches the quarter-final stage, pubs in England and Wales might stay open until 01:00 next summer, as the government has initiated a public consultation on extending pub licensing hours.

All times specified in BST unless otherwise noted

England – Group L

21:00, Wed, 17 June vs Croatia – Dallas (15:00 local)

21:00, Tue, 23 June vs Ghana – Boston (16:00 local)

22:00, Sat, 27 June vs Panama – New Jersey (17:00 local)

Scotland – Group C

02:00, Sun, 14 June vs Haiti – Boston (21:00 local)

23:00, Fri, 19 June vs Morocco – Boston (18:00 local)

23:00, Wed, 24 June vs Brazil – Miami (18:00 local)

The timings and venues for matches in the tournament were revealed the day after the group stage draw was conducted in Washington DC on Friday.

The first-ever 48-team World Cup will transpire in Canada, Mexico, and the United States from 11 June to 19 July 2026.

In the opening match, Mexico will square off against South Africa at the iconic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, marking the start of an expanded tournament featuring 104 matches over 39 days.

This match, a re-creation of the inaugural contest from the 2010 World Cup, will begin at 20:00 BST on Thursday, 11 June.

The final of the World Cup is set to commence at 20:00 BST on 19 July.

The semi-finals, hosted in Dallas and Atlanta will also kick off at 20:00 BST.

The complete match schedule will be finalized by March, after the Fifa and Uefa play-off tournaments conclude to determine the final six spots.

The tournament will occur across 16 cities, covering four time zones and three nations with distances between venues reaching up to 2,800 miles.

Fifa has been urged to avoid scheduling afternoon matches in several venues next summer, following a study led by Queen’s University Belfast indicating dangerous temperature levels could be exceeded in 14 of the 16 stadiums during use.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino was accompanied by two-time World Cup champion Ronaldo from Brazil, Francesco Totti, a 2006 winner from Italy, Hristo Stoichkov, the 1994 Golden Boot winner from Bulgaria, and former US defender Alexi Lalas to showcase the schedule on Saturday.

Insight by BBC Sport football features writer Dale Johnson

Fans of England are facing one of the most arduous travel schedules if they aim to support their team all the way to the World Cup final.

Should the Three Lions emerge as top of Group L and proceed to the final, supporters will have to cover a distance of 6,468.5 miles.

This trek begins in Dallas and concludes in East Rutherford, with a total travel duration of just under 19 hours.

The longest segments of the trip include the flight from Dallas to Foxborough for the second group match, and the roundtrip to Mexico City during the last 16 and quarter-final rounds.

Should England finish as runners-up in their group, their travel distance would decrease to 5,970.4 miles, with a journey time of 18 and a half hours.

Portugal and Spain will face an even tougher challenge, despite staying in Houston and Atlanta for their first couple of matches.

Portugal, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, will undertake travel amounting to 6,781.9 miles with more than 22 hours spent in the air, whereas Spain is looking at a total of 6,667.2 miles that would take 18 hours and 15 minutes.

Fans of France are in the best position, with just 2,675 miles to travel, equating to 12 and a half hours. They are also afforded two short train rides between East Rutherford and Philadelphia. The travels associated with the 1,561-mile trip from Foxborough to Dallas for the semi-final contribute over half of their total distance.

Mexico supporters fare just slightly better, primarily due to winning their group, allowing them the luxury of three consecutive matches at the Azteca. Their total travel reaches 3,199.7 miles, translating to just over 10 hours, making them the group with the least travel time.

Germany ranks third in this aspect with 4,141.5 miles, leading to a total journey of 15 and a half hours.

As for Scotland, if they were to pull off an upset against Brazil and Morocco, win their group, and advance to the final, they would have to travel 6,083.3 miles, requiring 18 hours.

If Scotland qualifies as runners-up from their group, their travel distance increases slightly to 6,248 miles, which takes just over 18 hours.