World Cup schedule: Start times for every match and how to watch

Kevin Baxter

For the first time, the FIFA World Cup is being played in the Middle East for a fall tournament highlighting soccer’s best.

The U.S. men’s national team looks to defy the odds and pull off a World Cup holiday shocker with a win over the Netherlands in the round of 16 on Saturday. After playing to draws against Wales and England, the U.S. defeated Iran 1-0 on Tuesday to punch its ticket into the next round.

Mexico, hit hard by injuries and issues within its federation, was eliminated from the World Cup on Wednesday despite a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia in its group-play finale.

Here’s a look at Friday’s World Cup matchups:

Ghana vs. Uruguay

Where:Al Janoub Stadium

Time:7 a.m. PST Friday

TV:FS1, Universo, Peacock Premium

The buzz:If Ghana wins, it advances. Apart from that, it gets complicated. The Black Stars also could advance with a draw unless South Korea beats Portugal in the other game, in which case second place in the group would be decided by a tiebreaker.

Winless Uruguay needs a win and a lot of help if it is to advance. A victory would give it four points, good enough to go through if South Korea fails to beat Portugal. Wins by South Korea and Ghana would send the decision to a tiebreaker.

With a veteran roster that includes Luis Suárez, Edinson Cavini, Diego Godin and Martin Cáceres, 14th-ranked Uruguay was expected to make a run in this tournament. Instead, it is winless and on the brink of elimination after failing to score in its first two games.

The last time Ghana advanced out of group play was 2010 when its tournament ended in a penalty-kick shootout loss to Uruguay in the quarterfinals.

South Korea vs. Portugal

Where:Education City Stadium

Time:7 a.m. PST Friday

TV: Fox, Telemundo, Peacock Premium

The buzz:Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo are on to the next round and probably will go as the group champion even with a loss given their superior goal differential over the rest of the group.

Portugal’s attack has been well-balanced with its five goals coming from four players. But it has started slowly with the earliest of those goals coming in the 54th minute — and two coming on penalties.

Winless South Korea has had a different kind of tournament with a scoreless draw against Uruguay and a one-goal loss to Ghana leaving it in need of a win and some help.

A victory over Portugal would give it four points and a chance at the second round if Ghana does not beat Uruguay. In that case, second place in the group would be decided by a tiebreaker. A Ghana win or draw would eliminate South Korea.

Serbia vs. Switzerland

Where: Stadium 974

Time: 11 a.m. PST Friday

TV: FS1, Universo, Peacock Premium

The buzz:A win would send Switzerland on to the final 16 as would a draw, provided winless Cameroon doesn’t beat Brazil in the group’s other game.

Serbia needs a win and a Brazil win or tie in the other game to avoid elimination. It can also advance with a victory and a Cameroon win, but it would need to make up a deficit in goal differential, which is the first tiebreaker. Serbia would be in a far better position had it not blown a 3-1 lead to Cameroon, surrendering goals three minutes apart midway through the second half.

The Swiss, meanwhile, have played in two 1-0 games, winning the first and losing the second.

Serbia hasn’t advanced past the group stage since 1998 (as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). Switzerland has made the knockout stages in four of the last five World Cups it has played in.

Cameroon vs. Brazil

Where: Lusail Stadium

Time: 11 a.m. PST Friday

TV: Fox, Telemundo, Peacock Premium

The buzz:Brazil, with two wins in as many games, is on to the next round and would advance as group champion with a win or draw. Even a loss wouldn’t necessarily keep it from winning the group if it maintains its goal differential lead on Switzerland.

Brazil, ranked No. 1 in the world, will be without talisman striker Neymar, who sustained an ankle injury in the team’s opener. His return for the knockout stages remains uncertain. Brazil has scored just once in 100 minutes since Neymar’s injury.

Cameroon has only the narrowest of paths through, needing to beat Brazil while hoping Switzerland does not defeat Serbia. In the case of a Cameroon win and a Serbian win, a tiebreaker would decide which team advances. The same would apply if Cameroon wins and the other game ends in a draw.

The odds aren’t favorable though: The Indomitable Lions have exited in the group stage of their last five World Cups and have won just one of 17 World Cup matches since 1990.

World Cup TV schedules

Note: Groups A, B C, D, E and F have completed all scheduled group matches.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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