Two days after the draw for the Club World Cup, the schedule has now been published. Bayern and Dortmund will play in the preliminary round in the eastern United States. Five of the six matches will be kicked off at times that are favorable for German television.
It was only last Thursday that FIFA held the draw for the Club World Cup, which saw FC Bayern face Benfica, Boca Juniors (Argentina) and Auckland City (New Zealand), while BVB will take on Fluminense (Brazil), Ulsan HD FC (South Korea) and Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa).
FCB at three different venues
The schedule has now been published, showing the venues and the exact times. This means that fans of FC Bayern Munich will have to be prepared for at least one long night this summer (June 15 to July 13). The German record champions’ opener against Auckland City in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 15 at 6 p.m. CEST (12 noon local time) and the third group game against Benfica Lisbon in Charlotte, North Carolina, on June 24 at 9 p.m. CEST (3 p.m. local time), the match against Boca Juniors in Miami (Florida) will be played in the night from June 20 to 21 from a German perspective. For Vincent Kompany’s team, the game starts at 9 p.m. local time – in Germany it will then be 3 a.m.
Should the German record champions come out on top in the group stage and also win the round of 16, however, they would have to pull an all-nighter again. The quarter-final in Philadelphia on July 4 will also kick off at 9 p.m. local time (3 a.m. CEST).
Possible BVB round of 16 at night
BVB fans, on the other hand, don’t have to worry about long nights just yet. The team from Westphalia will kick off at the MetLife Stadium in New York on June 17 at 6 p.m. CEST (noon local time) – their opponents will be Brazilian club Fluminense, who won the Copa Libertadores in 2023.
BVB will then travel to Cincinnati for the remaining two group matches. On June 21, they will first face Mamelody Sundowns at the same time as the first group match. The third group game against Ulsan HD from South Korea will follow on June 25 at 9 p.m. German time (3 p.m. local time). But BVB could also play at an inconvenient time from a German perspective if it makes it through as group winner. In that case, the team would play for a spot in the quarterfinals in Atlanta at 3 a.m. CEST (9 p.m. local time).
