Rodrigo Caetano: Favourable World Cup group kick-off times for Brazil | OneFootball

Rodrigo Caetano, coordinator of the men's national teams at CBF, stated this Saturday that the match times for Brazil in the group stage of the 2026 World Cup meet the expectations of the organization.

The national team will debut against Morocco on June 13, at 7 p.m. (Brasília time), in New York. Then, they face Haiti on the 19th, in Philadelphia, at 10 p.m. The group stage will conclude on June 24, against Scotland, at 7 p.m., in Miami. According to the official, the fact that the matches will take place in the late afternoon or at night benefits the team, as it offers milder temperatures during the northern hemisphere summer.

“Regarding the match times, in our view, they suit us, because there will be two games in the late afternoon here in the United States, with milder temperatures, and one at night. So, our concern about the temperature has already diminished quite a bit,” explained Caetano.

  See this photo on Instagram   A post shared by CBF • Seleção Brasileira de Futebol (@brasil)

The coordinator added that, starting this Sunday, CBF will resume visits to hotels and training centers that have already been previously evaluated, with the goal of defining five priority options to be sent to FIFA by the 9th.

The international organization will announce on the 14th the city, hotel, and training center that will host the Brazilian delegation. Since all three group stage matches will be played on the East Coast, the tendency is for the national team to remain based in that region.

“We are going to do very technical work, listing all the criteria that are important for our national team and for making the best decisions in these three games in New York, Philadelphia, and Miami,” he concluded.

SEE ALSO: 2026 World Cup Schedule: see the date, time, and location of Brazil's matches

Assessment of the opponents

Rodrigo Caetano also commented on Brazil's opponents in the group stage. According to the coordinator, the team's goal is to advance in first place, but this requires absolute respect for all the teams in the group.

“Regarding the opponents, we have the utmost respect for all of them. It is our responsibility and intention to seek qualification in first place,” he stated.

Next, he detailed the analysis of each team:

Morocco

“The first game presents a higher degree of difficulty, due to Morocco's recent history, semifinalist in the last World Cup and current U-20 world champion. That says a lot about the current moment of the Moroccan team and the country's football,” he highlighted.

Scotland

“Scotland has always posed difficulties for Brazil. It is a team that defends well and plays a very physical game,” he assessed.

Haiti

“And then there is Haiti, which is still an unknown, but eliminated Costa Rica in the Concacaf Qualifiers, which shows that they did not get here by chance,” he concluded.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.