THE TIMEZONE TAX

Which Country Pays the Highest Timezone Tax at the 2026 World Cup?

Algeria fans face the worst schedule of all 48 nations, with 3 of 3 group stage matches falling outside prime-time viewing hours. Uruguay gets the best deal. Here are all 48 countries ranked by timezone pain.

48 nations · 72 group stage matches · Scored 0 (prime time) to 100 (brutal) · Based on local kickoff hours

0-25 Ideal 26-50 Fair 51-75 Poor 76-100 Worst

Scores based on each country's local kick-off time. Lower = better schedule. Higher = more sleep lost.

Match Scores Per Country

# Country Avg Match 1 Match 2 Match 3
1 ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Algeria 88 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ท Argentina 02:00 8 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ด Jordan 04:00 5 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡น Austria 03:00 8
2 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ณ Tunisia 79 vs ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Sweden 03:00 8 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Japan 05:00 5 vs ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Netherlands 00:00 6
3 ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Scotland 67 vs ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡น Haiti 02:00 8 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Morocco 23:00 4 vs ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ท Brazil 23:00 4
4 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ถ Iraq 67 vs ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด Norway 01:00 7 vs ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท France 00:00 6 vs ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ณ Senegal 22:00 3
5 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด Norway 63 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ถ Iraq 00:00 6 vs ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ณ Senegal 02:00 8 vs ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท France 21:00 1
6 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Saudi Arabia 63 vs ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡พ Uruguay 01:00 7 vs ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Spain 19:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ป Cape Verde 03:00 8
7 ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ท Croatia 58 vs ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ England 22:00 3 vs ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฆ Panama 01:00 7 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ญ Ghana 23:00 4
8 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡พ Paraguay 58 vs ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ USA 22:00 3 vs ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ท Tรผrkiye 01:00 7 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia 23:00 4
9 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฉ DR Congo 58 vs ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น Portugal 18:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ด Colombia 03:00 8 vs ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Uzbekistan 00:00 6
10 ๐Ÿ‡ถ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Qatar 54 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ Switzerland 22:00 3 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada 01:00 7 vs ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฆ Bosnia and Herzegovina 22:00 3
11 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Czech Republic 54 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท South Korea 04:00 5 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ South Africa 18:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Mexico 03:00 8
12 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Morocco 50 vs ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ท Brazil 23:00 4 vs ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Scotland 23:00 4 vs ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡น Haiti 23:00 4
13 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Sweden 50 vs ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ณ Tunisia 04:00 5 vs ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Netherlands 19:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Japan 01:00 7
14 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Netherlands 42 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Japan 22:00 3 vs ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Sweden 19:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ณ Tunisia 01:00 7
15 ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌ Egypt 38 vs ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช Belgium 22:00 3 vs ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฟ New Zealand 04:00 5 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ท Iran 06:00 1
16 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ท Iran 38 vs ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฟ New Zealand 04:00 5 vs ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช Belgium 22:00 3 vs ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌ Egypt 06:00 1
17 ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ South Africa 38 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Mexico 21:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Czech Republic 18:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท South Korea 03:00 8
18 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ท Argentina 33 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Algeria 22:00 3 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡น Austria 14:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ด Jordan 23:00 4
19 ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Spain 33 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ป Cape Verde 18:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Saudi Arabia 18:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡พ Uruguay 02:00 8
20 ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Uzbekistan 33 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ด Colombia 07:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น Portugal 22:00 3 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฉ DR Congo 04:00 5
21 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia 29 vs ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ท Tรผrkiye 14:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ USA 05:00 5 vs ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡พ Paraguay 12:00 1
22 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช Belgium 29 vs ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌ Egypt 21:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ท Iran 21:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฟ New Zealand 05:00 5
23 ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Japan 29 vs ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Netherlands 05:00 5 vs ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ณ Tunisia 13:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Sweden 08:00 1
24 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡น Austria 25 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ด Jordan 06:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ท Argentina 19:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Algeria 04:00 5
25 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ป Cape Verde 25 vs ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Spain 15:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡พ Uruguay 21:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Saudi Arabia 23:00 4
26 ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท France 25 vs ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ณ Senegal 21:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ถ Iraq 23:00 4 vs ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด Norway 21:00 1
27 ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Germany 25 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ผ Curaรงao 19:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Ivory Coast 22:00 3 vs ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡จ Ecuador 22:00 3
28 ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ด Jordan 25 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡น Austria 07:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Algeria 06:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ท Argentina 05:00 5
29 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น Portugal 25 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฉ DR Congo 18:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Uzbekistan 18:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ด Colombia 00:00 6
30 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ณ Senegal 25 vs ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท France 19:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด Norway 00:00 6 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ถ Iraq 19:00 0
31 ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ England 21 vs ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ท Croatia 21:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ญ Ghana 21:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฆ Panama 22:00 3
32 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ญ Ghana 21 vs ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฆ Panama 23:00 4 vs ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ England 20:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ท Croatia 21:00 1
33 ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ USA 21 vs ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡พ Paraguay 21:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia 15:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ท Tรผrkiye 22:00 3
34 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ท Tรผrkiye 21 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia 07:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡พ Paraguay 07:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ USA 05:00 5
35 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Ivory Coast 17 vs ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡จ Ecuador 23:00 4 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Germany 20:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ผ Curaรงao 20:00 0
36 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ท Brazil 13 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Morocco 19:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡น Haiti 22:00 3 vs ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Scotland 19:00 0
37 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฟ New Zealand 13 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ท Iran 13:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌ Egypt 13:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช Belgium 15:00 1
38 ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท South Korea 13 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Czech Republic 11:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Mexico 10:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ South Africa 10:00 1
39 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ Switzerland 13 vs ๐Ÿ‡ถ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Qatar 21:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฆ Bosnia and Herzegovina 21:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada 21:00 1
40 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฆ Bosnia and Herzegovina 13 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada 21:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ Switzerland 21:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ถ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Qatar 21:00 1
41 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada 8 vs ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฆ Bosnia and Herzegovina 15:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ถ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Qatar 18:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ Switzerland 15:00 1
42 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ด Colombia 8 vs ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Uzbekistan 21:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฉ DR Congo 21:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น Portugal 18:00 0
43 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ผ Curaรงao 8 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Germany 13:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡จ Ecuador 20:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Ivory Coast 16:00 1
44 ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡น Haiti 8 vs ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Scotland 21:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ท Brazil 21:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Morocco 18:00 0
45 ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡จ Ecuador 4 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Ivory Coast 18:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ผ Curaรงao 19:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Germany 15:00 1
46 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Mexico 4 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ South Africa 13:00 1 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท South Korea 19:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Czech Republic 19:00 0
47 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฆ Panama 4 vs ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ญ Ghana 18:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ท Croatia 18:00 0 vs ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ England 16:00 1
48 ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡พ Uruguay 4 vs ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Saudi Arabia 19:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ป Cape Verde 19:00 0 vs ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Spain 21:00 1

All scores based on the country's local kick-off time.

Worst Planned Matches

Group stage fixtures ranked by combined fan pain. Both sides suffer.

1 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Sweden 04:00 5 7 8 03:00 Tunisia ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ณ Gp F
2 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ณ Tunisia 00:00 6 7 7 01:00 Netherlands ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Gp F
3 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ถ Iraq 01:00 7 7 6 00:00 Norway ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด Gp I
4 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด Norway 02:00 8 7 6 00:00 Senegal ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ณ Gp I
5 ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Algeria 03:00 8 7 5 04:00 Austria ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡น Gp J
6 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ป Cape Verde 23:00 4 6 8 03:00 Saudi Arabia ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Gp H
7 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ท Argentina 22:00 3 6 8 02:00 Algeria ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Gp J
8 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฉ DR Congo 00:00 6 6 5 04:00 Uzbekistan ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Gp K
9 ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ South Africa 03:00 8 5 1 10:00 South Korea ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท Gp A
10 ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡น Haiti 21:00 1 5 8 02:00 Scotland ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Gp C
11 ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡พ Uruguay 21:00 1 5 8 02:00 Spain ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Gp H
12 ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท France 23:00 4 5 6 00:00 Iraq ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ถ Gp I
13 ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ด Jordan 05:00 5 5 4 23:00 Argentina ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ท Gp J
14 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ด Colombia 21:00 1 5 8 03:00 DR Congo ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Gp K
15 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Czech Republic 03:00 8 4 0 19:00 Mexico ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Gp A
16 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada 18:00 0 4 7 01:00 Qatar ๐Ÿ‡ถ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Gp B
17 ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Scotland 23:00 4 4 4 23:00 Morocco ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Gp C
18 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ท Tรผrkiye 07:00 0 4 7 01:00 Paraguay ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡พ Gp D
19 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ท Tรผrkiye 05:00 5 4 3 22:00 USA ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Gp D
20 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Netherlands 22:00 3 4 5 05:00 Japan ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Gp F

How the Pain Scoring Works

The pain score for every hour of the day. This is the rule every match is evaluated against.

00061218
Mon 678855101111111110000134
Tue 678855101111111110000134
Wed 678855101111111110000134
Thu 678855101111111110000134
Fri 678855101111111110000134
Sat 678855101111111110000134
Sun 678855101111111110000134

How the Timezone Tax Works

The FIFA World Cup 2026 is the first tournament to span three host countries across four time zones: US Eastern (UTC-4), US Central (UTC-5), US Mountain (UTC-6), and US Pacific/Mexico City (UTC-7). With 48 teams from every inhabited continent, the schedule creates wildly unequal viewing conditions depending on where fans live.

Each of the 72 group stage matches is scored by what hour it kicks off in the fan's home timezone. A match at 19:00 local time scores 0 (perfect prime time). A match at 03:00 local time scores 8 (the dead zone โ€” too late to stay up, too early to wake up, no strategy works). The scale runs 0 to 8 because the pain between midnight and 4am is not linear: 04:00 is an early alarm you can prepare for, but 02:00-03:00 is soul-crushing. The Timezone Tax aggregates these per-match scores and normalizes to a 0-100 scale.

Who benefits from a North American World Cup?

Nations in the Americas benefit most from host-continent proximity. Central and South American countries see the majority of their matches in prime time or acceptable evening slots. European nations face late-night finishes for some West Coast matches but generally land in the tolerable range. The heaviest burden falls on East Asian and Oceanian nations, where North American afternoon kickoffs translate to early-morning hours.

Methodology

Pain bands by local kickoff hour: prime time (17:00-20:59) and normal daytime hours (06:00-07:59) = 0; work hours (08:00-16:59) and late evening (21:00) = 1; 22:00 = 3 (match ends around midnight); 23:00 = 4 (match ends around 01:30); early alarm (04:00-05:59) = 5 (go to bed early, cozy up); midnight (00:00) = 6 (awkward either way); 01:00 = 7 (too late to stay up, too early to wake); 02:00-03:59 = 8 (the dead zone โ€” no viewing strategy works). Each country is mapped to its capital city timezone. Countries spanning multiple zones (USA, Russia, Australia) use the capital. The rankings cover group stage matches only; knockout matchups are updated once confirmed.

FAQ

What is the Timezone Tax?
The Timezone Tax measures how badly a country's fans are affected by the World Cup 2026 schedule. Each of the 72 group stage matches is scored from 0 (prime time or normal daytime hours) to 8 (the 02:00-03:59 dead zone where no viewing strategy works). A country's final score is the average pain across its group stage matches, normalized to 0-100.
Which country has the worst timezone for the World Cup 2026?
Algeria has the highest Timezone Tax score at 88/100. Of their 3 group stage matches, 3 fall in the sleep-destruction zone, requiring fans to watch between midnight and dawn local time.
Which country has the best World Cup 2026 schedule?
Uruguay has the lowest Timezone Tax score at 4/100. 3 of their 3 group stage matches fall in prime time (17:00-20:59 local), making it the most comfortable viewing experience of any nation.
How is the Timezone Tax calculated?
Each match is scored by local kickoff hour on an 8-point pain scale. Prime time (17:00-20:59) and daytime hours (06:00-07:59) score 0. Work hours (08:00-16:59) and late evening (21:00) score 1. 22:00 scores 3 (ends ~00:30). 23:00 scores 4. Early alarm (04:00-05:59) scores 5. Midnight scores 6. 01:00 scores 7 โ€” too late to stay up, too early to wake. 02:00-03:59 is the dead zone and scores 8 โ€” no strategy works. The country score is the average pain across all group matches, normalized to 0-100.
Why is 02:00 worse than 04:00 in the scoring?
A 04:00 kickoff is an early alarm you can prepare for โ€” go to bed early, set an alarm, cozy up. A 02:00 kickoff is the worst kind: too late to stay up, too early to wake up, no strategy avoids crushing sleep debt. The scoring reflects how fans actually experience these times, not just hours-from-midnight.
Does the Timezone Tax account for the knockout stage?
This analysis covers the 72 group stage matches only. Knockout stage matchups are unknown until the group stage concludes. Once the Round of 16 is set, we will update the rankings with knockout stage data.