The biggest match in football has a date. The FIFA World Cup 2026 final is set for Sunday, July 19, with kick-off scheduled at 3:00pm Eastern time.

Fans based in the United Kingdom can tune in at 8:00pm, with coverage split across BBC One and ITV1. Both broadcasters will air the match, though UK viewers will be spared the halftime pop concert — expected to run longer than any previous World Cup final interval — in favour of extended studio analysis.

MetLife Stadium to host the showpiece

The final will be played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Operating under the commercial name New York New Jersey Stadium for FIFA purposes, the ground serves as home to both the New York Jets and the New York Giants of the NFL.

The venue makes the greater New York area the third CONCACAF city to stage a World Cup final. Mexico City previously hosted the showpiece twice — in 1970 and 1986 — with both finals played at the iconic Estadio Azteca, which also features on the fixture list for this year's tournament. When the United States hosted the competition alone in 1994, the final between Brazil and Italy was held at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

The MetLife final will be the eighth FIFA World Cup 2026 match played at that stadium. Notably, four of the five group stage games held there featured a former World Cup-winning nation.

A record short turnaround between finals

Because the previous tournament in Qatar was played mid-season in December 2022, the gap between that final and this one represents the shortest in the competition's 96-year history. Argentina claimed their third World Cup title on that occasion, lifting the trophy 1,309 days before the MetLife showpiece kicks off in July 2026.