World Cup venues have been determined
DFB-Elf starts in Houston – and plays very late twice
Updated 12/07/2025 – 9:27 amReading time: 2 minutes
Germany starts the World Cup against Curaçao in the air-conditioned stadium in Houston. For the next games in Toronto and East Rutherford, fans will have to stay awake until just before midnight.
The German national team will play its group games at the 2026 World Cup in Houston, Toronto and in the final arena in East Rutherford near New York. As FIFA announced at its second show act on the day after the group draw in Washington, the DFB team’s opening game against Curaçao will kick off on June 14th at 12:00 noon local time in the Houston Stadium, i.e. at 7:00 p.m. German time.
The arena in Texas has a roof and can be air-conditioned, so the expected high temperatures should not be a problem for players and fans.
For the next two games, fans will have to stay awake until just before midnight in order to be there live until the final whistle. The second game on June 20th against Ivory Coast will take place in Toronto, Canada. Kick-off is at 4 p.m. local time, 10 p.m. in Germany.
The group finals go to the east coast. The MetLife Stadium, which has the somewhat awkward name New York-New Jersey Stadium during the World Cup, will also be played on June 25th at 4 p.m. US time, again 10 p.m. in Germany.
For national coach Julian Nagelsmann and the national players, the later kick-off times also mean that the very hot midday heat is avoided.
As group winners, Germany would return to the final in East Rutherford via Foxborough near Boston, Philadelphia, Foxborough again and Arlington near Dallas. As a group runner-up, the tournament path to the final would mean: Arlington, East Rutherford, Miami Gardens and Atlanta. Then kick-off times on the German night are also possible in knockout games.