Fox To Air 29 Women’s World Cup Matches, Up From 22 In ’19

United States’ Alex Morgan (13) chases after the ball as Ireland’s Ruesha Littlejohn (8) and Megan Connolly (6) defend during the first half of an international friendly soccer match Tuesday, April 11, 2023, in St. Louis. (Jeff Roberson/AP)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fox will broadcast 29 of 64 Women’s World Cup games from Australia and New Zealand this summer on its main network, up from 22 of 52 matches in France during the 2019 tournament and 16 in 2015.

The main network will televise the opener between New Zealand vs Norway on July 20 at 3 a.m. EDT, all three first-round matches of the defending champion United States and all games from the quarterfinals on. The championship is Aug 20.

Thirty-five games will be on the FS1 cable network.

First-round kickoffs range from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. EDT from July 20 to Aug. 3, second round games from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. from Aug. 5-8 and quarterfinals from 9 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. from Aug. 10-23. The semifinals are at 4 a.m. on Aug. 15 and 6 a.m. on Aug. 16, and the final is at 6 a.m. on Aug. 20.

The U.S. opens against Vietnam and plays the Netherlands on July 26, with the Americans’ first two games at 9 p.m. and finishes the group stage against Portugal at 3 a.m. on Aug 1.

Four years ago, 27 matches were on FS1 and three on FS2, and kickoff times ranged from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. This year’s tournament expanded from 24 nations to 32.

At the 2015 tournament in Canada, FS1 televised 30 matches and FS2 broadcast six, and kickoff times were from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.

During last year’s men’s World Cup in Qatar, Fox broadcast 34 matches and FS1 televised 30. The 2026 tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada will expand from 32 nations to 48 and from 64 games to 104.