The schedule and locations of the Club World Cup matches for the summer of 2025 have just been revealed and PSG will play its group stage entirely on the West Coast of the United States. In order to combat the time difference, FIFA has decided to place two of the three PSG matches at 12 p.m. local time, a completely lunar schedule for a match in June but which will allow French fans to watch their match at a very accessible.
Two days after the draw for the Summer 2025 Club World Cup which saw PSG land in Group B alongside Atlético Madrid, Botafogo and Seattle Sounders, we now know the schedule of the first round of the competition and the order of the matches is indeed the one that had leaked: Atlético first then Botafogo and finally Seattle, who will play at home, to finish.
PSG entirely on the West Coast in the first round
One of the key points of this calendar was the location of the matches, travel within the United States quickly numbering in the thousands of kilometers given the local immensity. At this level, PSG is rather spared since it will play the entirety of its first round on the West coast, therefore attending the only two stadiums on this side of the country which have been selected for the competition. On the other hand, the possible eighth will be played on the other side, in Atlanta or Philadelphia.
PSG will play its first two matches in the legendary Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Los Angeles, the first against Atlético on Sunday June 15 and the second against Botafogo on Thursday 19, 4 days apart. PSG will then finish its group stage on Monday June 23 in Seattle against the local club. With four days between each meeting, the capital club is not too bad off in terms of recovery but the match schedules raise questions very frankly.
The schedule for the first round
- PSG/Atlético Madrid on Sunday June 15 at noon (9 p.m. French time) in Los Angeles
- PSG/Botafogo on Thursday June 19 at 6 p.m. (3 a.m. French time) in Los Angeles
- Seattle/PSG on Monday June 23 at noon (9 p.m. French time) in Seattle
Two matches at noon, including one under the California sun
Indeed, two of these three matches will take place at noon local time, namely the first and the third, and PSG will therefore play in mid-June under the California sun at the hottest time of the day. For comparison, it was 27° in the shade at noon on June 15, 2024 in Los Angeles. Paris will also play at noon in Seattle, much further north and with a milder climate, and June 15 in recent years has often been rainy in the Northeast of the country, which gave a temperature of 20° at most .
The only satisfaction is that these two matches placed at noon local time will be broadcast at 9 p.m. French time given the time difference. The second group match, the one against Botafogo, will however take place at 6 p.m. Los Angeles time, a much more reasonable time at this time of year, but this will logically lead to a broadcast in the middle of the night in France, at namely 3am.
If European viewers can rejoice in this broadcast at 9 p.m. for several matches, FIFA, which is already very criticized for this competition which further extends the calendar, will have a hard time justifying playing matches in mid-June at the time. the hottest of the day to teams already coming off a trying season.
As a reminder, the final of the 1994 World Cup was played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena at… 12:30 p.m. local time and both Italy and Brazil suffered enormously from the heat, delivering a tasteless game that ended on a very logical 0-0. Suffice to say that this PSG/Atlético which will be one of the first matches of the competition promises to be torture for the organizations.
