A standard 20:45 Central European kick-off is 14:45 on the US East Coast, 11:45 on the West Coast, and 02:45 the following morning in China. If you are following the Nations League from outside Europe, those three numbers cover most of what you need.
The complication is November. Europe leaves daylight saving time at the end of October; the United States does not leave it until early November. For one week, the usual offsets are wrong by an hour. Here is the full picture.
The September and October matchdays
Matchdays 1 to 4 run from 24 September to 6 October 2026, while both Europe and North America are still on summer time. Converting the standard 20:45 slot:
| Region | Local time | Day |
|---|---|---|
| Central Europe | 20:45 | Match evening |
| US Eastern (EDT) | 14:45 | Match afternoon |
| US Pacific (PDT) | 11:45 | Late morning |
| China, Singapore (UTC+8) | 02:45 | Next morning |
| Japan, Korea (UTC+9) | 03:45 | Next morning |
| Sydney (AEST) | 04:45 | Next morning |
The earlier slots shift by the same amount: an 18:00 kick-off in Central Europe is 12:00 in the American East and 00:45 the next day in Beijing.
The November matchdays
Matchdays 5 and 6 fall on 12–17 November, and this is where it gets messy. Europe switched back to standard time on the last Sunday of October; North America switches on the first Sunday of November. From 12 November both regions are off summer time, so the offsets return to their winter values:
| Region | November local time (20:45 CET) |
|---|---|
| Central Europe | 20:45 |
| US Eastern (EST) | 14:45 |
| US Pacific (PST) | 11:45 |
| China (UTC+8) | 03:45 |
Notice that Beijing moves from 02:45 to 03:45 while the American times do not move at all. That single hour is the most common scheduling mistake overseas fans make in November.
The 15:00 and 18:00 matches
Roughly a quarter of fixtures sit in the earlier windows, mostly involving teams from the smaller footballing nations where travel between countries is short. For a 15:00 Central European start: 09:00 US Eastern, 06:00 US Pacific, 21:00 Beijing. These are by far the easiest matches to watch live from Asia.
Practical watching patterns
- North America: the standard slot is a mid-afternoon match — genuinely convenient. The 15:00 games are breakfast-time viewing.
- East Asia and Australia: the headline 20:45 games are overnight. The realistic strategy is either the 15:00 matches, or treating the 20:45 ones as next-morning replay viewing.
- Middle East: 22:45 for the standard slot — late but watchable.
For anyone watching from outside Europe, the shirt that works hardest is the one you can still read under floodlights at an awkward local hour. The Brazil 2026 away stadium replica in blue ($45.90) and the Messi Argentina 2026 home replica long sleeve ($49.90) are the two most legible on a night broadcast, and both sit in the same replica tier.
Frequently asked questions
What time is a 20:45 CET match in the US?
14:45 Eastern. During the September and October matchdays that is 14:45 EDT; in November it is 14:45 EST. The local American time is the same, because both regions come off daylight saving.
Why do match dates differ between European and Asian listings?
A 20:45 Central European kick-off falls after midnight in Asian time zones, so Asian media list the match on the following calendar date. Both listings describe the same match.
Do kick-off times change for the November matchdays?
The Central European kick-off time does not change. The converted local time in Asia shifts one hour later, because Europe leaves daylight saving before the November window begins.
