Afternoon games for World Cup teams at tropical venues

FIFA's Executive Committee has announced that some of the 2014 World Cup matches will be played in the afternoon at tropical venues in Brazil.

Most of the 64 games will take place in the afternoon as the months of June and July represent the winter in the south but conditions are tropical further north.


The final at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro will be played at 1600 on July 13.

"When defining the kickoff times the following criteria was taken into consideration: equitable distribution across all teams, equitable rest periods for teams in the same group, temperature in venues, global TV market considerations, fan travel logistics, flight times and accommodation," said world soccer's governing body in a statement.


All matches in the knockout rounds will be played at 1300 or 1700 local time.