Russia 2018: FIFA confirms a 17:00 CET kick-off for the opening match and the final

"The FIFA Executive Committee has approved the kick-off times for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup during the first of two days of meetings in Zurich," announced FIFA, after its Executive Committee meeting on 03/12/2015.

The opening match (on 14/06/2015) and the final (on 15/07/2015) of the 2018 World Cup will begin at 18:00 Moscow time (17:00 CET). The opening match of the Confederations Cup will be held at the same time, while the final of the tournament will begin at 21:00 (20:00 CET).

"The next step in the development of the match schedules will be the assignment of kick-off times to matches, factoring in such considerations as daily temperatures and local time zones. Updated versions of the match schedules should be approved in March 2016, during the meeting of the Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup," said FIFA on 03/12/2015.

• "The final match schedules, which will include the participating teams, will be unveiled after the FIFA Confederations Cup Draw, in November 2016, and after the FIFA World Cup Final Draw, in December 2017," said the…