Buenos Aires [Argentina], February 5 (ANI): The Argentine Football Association (AFA) announced on Thursday that its team will be based in Kansas City for most of the FIFA World Cup 2026.

Argentina is set to kickstart their world title defence against Algeria on June 16. The match will be held at the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Their next two group stage games against Austria (June 22) and Jordan (June 27) will take place at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

A statement from the AFA said, 'Ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Argentine National Team, led by Lionel Scaloni, will be based in Kansas City for much of the competition.'

The decision was taken after inspection trips by the coaches and administrative staff, keeping the distance between Texas and Kansas and facilities available to the team in mind.

'Following several inspection trips led by Head Coach Luis Martin, Assistant Head Coach Juan Tamone, and administrative staff Daniel Cabrera and Alberto Pernas, and after a thorough final report, it was concluded that Kansas City would be the ideal location for the tournament, considering the distances between cities and, more importantly, the amenities available to the team,' the statement added.

The tournament opening clash between Mexico and South Africa in Mexico City will start at 3 PM ET. The group stage will conclude on June 27, with teams like Argentina and Portugal, featuring stalwarts Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, respectively, and the 2022 WC third-placed side Croatia, and a star-studded England featuring captain Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden amongst the ones in the action on the final day of the group stage.

The round of 32 will start from June 28 and go on till July 3, following which the round of 16 (July 4-7), quarterfinals (July 9-11) and semifinals (July 14-15) will take place.78 games in total will be held in the USA, and 13 each in Canada and Mexico.

The quarterfinal-final stretch will be held entirely in the USA, with Los Angeles, Boston, Kansas City, Miami (quarterfinals), Dallas and Atlanta (semifinals) and New Jersey (finals) being the venues.

South Korea, besides Canada and Mexico, is one of only three teams with no games in the US. Also, the US first-round clashes will have a 9 PM ET start time against Paraguay at Inglewood on June 12, a 3 PM ET kickoff vs. Australia at Seattle a week later, and then a 7 PM start on June 25 against Turkiye, Romania, Slovakia or Kosovo at SoFi in Inglewood. (ANI)