Confederations Cup 2009 Schedule

FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 kicks off today (14 June 2009) with host South Africa taking on Asian Champions Iraq in the first match of the tournament at the Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg. This is the eighth edition of Confederations Cup where six continental champions along with host South Africa and World champion Italy are taking part.

Six continental champions are: Brazil as the winner of Cop America 2007, Egypt as the champion of African Cup of Nations 2008, AFC Asian Cup 2007 winner Iraq, OFC Nations Cup 2008 Winner New Zealand, Spain as the winner of Euro 2008 and United States as the Champion of CONCACAF Gold Cup 2007. The eight participating teams will be divided into two groups of four in the group stage. All the four teams in a group will face each other once in the group stage in a round robin league system. From each group, top two teams based on the points achieved will progress to the semi final stage of the tournament.

Group A consists of South Africa, Iraq, New Zealand and Spain, while Group B comprises of United States, Italy and defending champion Brazil and Egypt. The tournament will take place in four different venues across South Africa and the venues are Coca-Cola Park in Johannesburg, Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria (Tshwane), Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein (Mangaung) and Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg.

Here, I am giving you the schedule of the tournament:

Stage	Date	Competing Teams	Kick off	Venue
Group Stage	14 June Sun	South Africa vs Iraq	Local 16:00; GMT 14:00	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
	14 June Sun	New Zealand vs Spain	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
	15 June Mon	Brazil vs Egypt	Local 16:00; GMT 14:00	Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
	15 June Mon	United States vs Italy	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
	17 June Wed	Spain vs Iraq	Local 16:00; GMT 14:00	Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
	17 June Wed	South Africa vs New Zealand	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
	18 June Thu	United States vs Brazil	Local 16:00; GMT 14:00	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
	18 June Thu	Egypt vs Italy	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
	20 June Sat	Iraq vs New Zealand	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
	20 June Sat	Spain vs South Africa	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
	21 June Sun	Italy vs Brazil	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
	21 June Sun	Egypt vs United States	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
1st Semi Final	24 June Wed	Winner Group A vs Winner Group B	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
2nd Semi Final	25 June Thu	Winner Group B vs Winner Group A	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
Third Place	28 June Sun	Losers of the two semi finals	Local 15:00 GMT 13:00	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
Final	28 June Sun	Winners of the Semi Final	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg