FFF in talks with FIFA over World Cup schedule tweaks | OneFootball

According to L'Équipe, the French Football Federation, FFF, is in talks with FIFA to secure schedule adjustments for the World Cup, 11 June to 19 July, after heavy travel delays on their United States tour.

While the tour delivered two wins, 2-1 against Brazil on Thursday and 3-1 against Colombia on Sunday, logistics proved cumbersome. Delays at airports and traffic jams to meet eve-of-match media duties have left the delegation determined to avoid a repeat at the tournament.

Current guidelines require teams to arrive on site before 16:00 on J-1 of matches. During the 2025 Club World Cup, flights were cancelled because of thunderstorms, common at that time of year, so FIFA is seeking to mitigate risks by insisting on earlier landings.

The rule forces teams to shift their final training, and France would like that session to be held at the same location as the press conference. In the United States these are scheduled quite early to satisfy European media as well.

For their group games in New Jersey against Senegal on 16 June, and in Philadelphia on 22 June against Iraq or Bolivia, the squad now prefer to travel on J-2. Before facing Norway on 26 June at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, 45 kilometres from their Boston base, they will ask to hold the J-1 press conference at their training centre rather than at the stadium.

Source: L'Équipe