No, the United States won't be playing Egypt on Wednesday, but the day's international fixture slate is still ripe with tantalizing matchups.
Among the headliners is the Argentina-Portugal tilt that will pit La Liga rivals Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo against each other for the first time on the international stage. Although both have had more individual success on the club level than on the international level, expectations are high that the two most-recent FIFA players of the year will put on a show in Geneva.
Other high-profile matches on the docket include a rematch of the 1998 World Cup final, as France and Brazil do battle in Paris, and a matchup between European powers Germany and Italy.
Looking to do a little Gold Cup scouting? CONCACAF is represented on the schedule as well, with Canada facing Greece, Mexico meeting Bosnia-Herzegovina in Atlanta, Costa Rica squaring off with Venezuela and Honduras going up against Ecuador.
Here's the schedule (TV listings as well) for all of Wednesday's international friendlies:
WEDNESDAY'S INTERNATIONAL FIXTURE SCHEDULE
7 a.m. – San Marino vs. Liechtenstein
9 a.m. – Andorra vs. Moldova
10 a.m. – Armenia vs. Georgia
10 a.m. – Belarus vs. Kazakhstan
10 a.m. – Greece vs. Canada
11 a.m. – Iran vs. Russia
11 a.m. – Latvia vs. Bolivia
11:30 a.m. – Macedonia vs. Cameroon
11:45 a.m. – Croatia vs. Czech Republic
12 p.m. – Azerbaijan vs. Hungary
1 p.m. – Israel vs. Serbia
1 p.m. – Turkey vs. South Korea
1:35 p.m. – South Africa vs. Burkina Faso
2 p.m. – Albania vs. Slovenia
2 p.m. – Estonia vs. Bulgaria
2:15 p.m. – Denmark vs. England – ESPN3.com
2:15 p.m. – Luxembourg vs. Slovakia
2:30 p.m. – Netherlands vs. Austria – ESPN3.com
2:30 p.m. – Belgium vs. Finland
2:30 p.m. – Malta vs. Switzerland
2:30 p.m. – Poland vs. Norway
2:45 p.m. – France vs. Brazil – ESPN2/ESPNDeportes/ESPN3.com
2:45 p.m. – Germany vs. Italy – ESPN3.com
2:55 p.m. – Argentina vs. Portugal – GOLTV
3:30 p.m. – Spain vs. Colombia – ESPN3.com
7:30 p.m. – Venezuela vs. Costa Rica
8 p.m. – Mexico vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina – Telefutura
8:30 p.m. – Honduras vs. Ecuador
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Which game(s) are you looking forward to the most? Do you see Messi and Ronaldo meeting expectations? How do you see the CONCACAF teams faring?
Share your thoughts below.
Brazil B beats 98% of A teams, should still be a good match.
The Mexico match is certainly being advertised a fair amount in Mexico and on Spanish-language networks.
I hope France v. Brasil brings a performance similar to that of confederations cup 97′. That match was incredible.
Go Ronaldo beat Argentina. Also, Brazil is bringing a B team to play France,but France is missing Nasri and Ribeiry, So the game might be slow.
Peru beat Panama 1-0
Who’s supposed to be compensated? Pretty sure thats the last thing on anyones mind in Egypt or in the US. The head of the US federation would never ask for compensation, if you want a competitive international fixture, fly the Brazilian B team or Spain B team in to the US.
I don’t think right now would be a great time for a fixture anyway for our top players, they need to either rest or adjust to new clubs.
Loving the Cristiano head-to-head but this is also a great chance for Messi to kick-start a new era with Argentina. He is the best.
All the games are really streamed on FIFA’s website?
No Dzeko for Bosnia.
I always like watching our arch-rival Mexico play, especially when I can watch on a Spanish-language TV network like Telefutura. I’ll have my stopwatch ready to time the “GOOOOOOOOLLL” from the announcer when Chicharito does his thing. Do those guys even need to breathe?
The 2:45PM time slot is stacked. France v Brazil? Italy v Germany? Argentina v Portugal? How can I decide? I’ll go with Messi v Ronaldo, but only since I can catch the other two on replay with ESPN3.
The Egypt FA or whatever insurance company they use to cover such events…
Malta and Luxemborg listed but not the Peru match????
Go Colombia!!
are you suggesting that the US federation ask for compensation? from whom? the Egypt FA? really?
Can’t wait for the Italy-Germany match.
Love watching Die Mannschaft play.
right now would have been a bad time for most of the US team anyways with so many players with new clubs and MLS training camps and a few injuries.
Does US get compensated for the failed USA-Egypt match? Although a wise decision, it seems like a wasted opportunity with few international fixture dates on the calendar.
Turkey/South Korea could be a good match. Is south korea going to bring a B team because the Asian Cup just ended recently?
WTF! Way to Advertise a game Mexico lol! I haven’t seen a single advert or heard a message for this game. they must be only targeting the Mexican and Bosnian population of Atlanta. Not like I was going to go anyway, but I’m just saying.
100 to 1? That’s optimistic.
Brazil v France (the new era’s of footballs powerhouses)
Argentina v Portugal (messi v. ronaldo two best players)
Canada v Greece (I support the voyagers)
in order of the games I’m interested in watching
where’s FSC? they can’t get any of these matches….Germany v Italy not on TV?
Bosnian fans will be dwarfed 100 to 1.
Kinda good to let our NT boys rest. In 7 weeks they’ll regroup for 2 friendlies, so that’s good. Let them continue their great form especially Dempsey.
That Mexico match has had zero publicity around it — in English, anyway. I’m sure they will still pull 50k.