Qatar 2026 Schedule & Game Calendar

Inside Qatar’s Group B draw for 2026

The 2026 World Cup is the first staged across three countries, the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and the first with 48 teams playing 104 matches between June 11 and July 19. Qatar take their place in Group B, drawn with Switzerland, Canada, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Three group games, three host cities, and a route that runs from California up to the Pacific Northwest and into Canada.

The opener gave Qatar something to hold onto. They drew 1-1 with Switzerland at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium on June 13, a point against a European side to set the tone. The schedule then moves north: Canada at BC Place in Vancouver on June 18, then Bosnia and Herzegovina at Seattle Stadium on June 24. Two of those three kickoffs are at 3:00 PM ET, with the Vancouver game the lone evening start.

A point from the opener leaves Qatar with work still to do. Two teams from every four-team group advance straight away, and the eight best third-placed sides round out the new 32-team knockout stage, so the standings can turn on a single result. After the draw with Switzerland, the Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina fixtures become the ones that decide whether Qatar climb out of Group B or bow out after three games.

Three cities, three tests: the Qatar fixtures up close

Qatar’s tournament opened on Saturday, June 13 at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, a 3:00 PM ET meeting with Switzerland that finished 1-1. Sharing the points with a UEFA side is a respectable start, and it keeps Qatar in touch in a group where every team will fancy a route through. The draw does, though, raise the stakes for the two matches that follow.

The middle fixture is the hardest on paper. Qatar travel to BC Place in Vancouver to face co-hosts Canada on Thursday, June 18, a 6:00 PM ET kickoff and the only night game of their group. Facing a host nation in front of its own crowd is as tough a draw as the group offers, and a result here would do a great deal for Qatar’s hopes of reaching the Round of 32. It is the fixture that could define their tournament.

The group signs off in Seattle. Qatar meet Bosnia and Herzegovina at Seattle Stadium on Wednesday, June 24, a 3:00 PM ET start and a game where Qatar are again the away team on the sheet. By the time it begins, Group B may already be decided, or it may rest on this match and goal difference. Whatever the situation, Seattle on June 24 is the date that determines whether Qatar carry on into the knockout rounds.

What the Group B table asks of Qatar

In a four-team group the math is unforgiving, and Qatar start it with one point. That single point keeps them level with anyone else who drew their opener, so the group is wide open from Qatar’s seat. The two remaining fixtures are where the season-defining swings happen, and both the result and the goal difference will travel with Qatar into the final reckoning.

Lay out the scenarios and the stakes come into focus. A point off Canada in Vancouver, against a co-host on home turf, would be a strong return and would lift Qatar into real contention for a knockout place. Take something against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Seattle as well and second place comes into view. Drop both and Qatar are relying on other groups, because even a third-place finish only helps if it ranks among the eight best across the 12 groups.

That third-place lifeline is new to the 48-team format, and it changes how a side like Qatar approaches a group. Losing one game is not automatically fatal, since goals scored and goal difference can rescue a third-place run. It means Qatar have reason to chase goals even when a result looks out of reach, and reason to defend a one-goal margin as if it were the whole tournament. Every Qatar goal in San Francisco, Vancouver, and Seattle could end up deciding their place in the bracket.

Reading Qatar’s route into the 48-team knockouts

Clear Group B and the tournament changes character. The 2026 World Cup is the first with 48 teams, and that brings a Round of 32 that no edition before it included. The top two from each group join the eight best third-placed teams, and from there the format is pure knockout: Round of 32, Round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and the final on July 19.

Qatar’s first knockout opponent cannot be named yet. The pairings only lock once all 12 groups have completed their final matchday, so the bracket fills from the top across the last days of the group stage. In a 48-team field, that wait can cut either way for a side like Qatar: third place may be enough to go through, and a strong finish against Bosnia and Herzegovina could leave them checking results in other groups to see where they slot in. Every group and the bracket as it forms can be followed on the 2026 World Cup overview.

For Qatar, reaching the knockouts would be the marker of a good tournament. The group stage is the gateway, nothing more. Come through it and the single-elimination bracket puts every team, favourite or underdog, within two wins of the last eight. That is the prize sitting behind the San Francisco draw and the trips to Vancouver and Seattle.

It is worth remembering how much the expanded format widens the door. The old World Cup sent 16 teams into the knockouts; the 2026 edition sends 32, half the field. For a nation like Qatar that puts a realistic target within reach, since a third-place finish in Group B can be enough so long as it ranks among the best across the 12 groups. The flip side is that one extra round now stands between any team and the quarterfinals, so the path is longer even as the entry point is easier. Qatar’s job is to get into that bracket first, then take the knockout games as they come.

Getting Qatar’s schedule onto your calendar

You can stop tracking the fixtures by hand. The download button on the schedule above hands you the full Qatar campaign as an ICS file, a CSV spreadsheet, or a printable PDF, and you can take the whole group run or pull out a single match.

Most people will reach for the ICS file. Import it into Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, or Outlook and Qatar’s three group games appear with the kickoff times converted to your local zone, the venue named, and the host city shown alongside. The two 3:00 PM ET starts and the lone 6:00 PM ET game in Vancouver all land at the right local hour once the calendar does the conversion, so there is no mental arithmetic on matchday. Since the file draws on live tournament data, it maintains itself: if a kickoff shifts, or once Qatar’s knockout opponents are confirmed, the entries change without any input from you.

Watching several teams across the group? The same downloads are available for every nation at the 2026 World Cup, so Qatar’s fixtures can sit next to another side and the whole tournament reads off one calendar. Mark June 13, June 18, and June 24 first, then let the knockout dates arrive as Group B and the wider bracket settle.