The 2013 Confederations Cup will kick off on Saturday, June 15, with host nation Brazil taking on Japan at 2:30 p.m. ET from Estádio Nacional in Brazil. For those who are unaware of what the Confederations Cup is, it is a tournament that features the six FIFA Confederations, along with the host nation of the upcoming World Cup and the previous winner. The Confederations Cup takes every four years, with the tournament coming the year before the World Cup and serving as a warm up for the teams involved.
The six FIFA confederations are CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football), UEFA (Union of European Football Associations), CAF (African Football Confederation), CONMEBOL (South American Football Confederation), AFC (Asian Football Confederation) and OFC (Oceana Football Confederation).
The matches will be held in six cities throughout Brazil – Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Fortaleza, Recife, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador — and you can catch all games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNEWS.
If you want to watch some high level international action and get to learn more about the teams and players that we will all see on the world stage next summer, the Confederations Cup will be worth checking out.
Here are the team groupings, followed by the full television schedule:
| Group A | Group B |
| Brazil | Spain |
| Mexico | Uruguay |
| Italy | Nigeria |
| Japan | Tahiti |
2013 Confederations Cup TV Schedule (All times EASTERN, Schedule is subject to change)
| Date | Time (ET) | Matchup | Networks |
| Sat, June 15 | 2:30 p.m. | Brazil vs. Japan | ESPN/WatchESPN |
| Sun, June 16 | 2:30 p.m. | Mexico vs. Italy | ESPN/WatchESPN |
| 5:45 p.m. | Spain vs. Uruguay | ESPN/WatchESPN | |
| Mon, June 17 | 2:45 p.m. | Tahiti vs. Nigeria | ESPN/WatchESPN |
| Wed, June 19 | 2:30 p.m. | Brazil vs. Mexico | ESPN/WatchESPN |
| 5:45 p.m. | Italy vs. Japan | ESPN/WatchESPN | |
| Thu, June 20 | 2:45 p.m. | Spain vs. Tahiti | ESPN/WatchESPN |
| 5:45 p.m. | Nigeria vs. Uruguay | ESPN/WatchESPN | |
| Sat, June 22 | 2:30 p.m. | Japan vs. Mexico | ESPN/WatchESPN |
| 2:30 p.m. | Italy vs. Brazil | ESPNEWS | |
| Sun, June 23 | 2:30 p.m. | Nigeria vs. Spain | ESPN/WatchESPN |
| 2:30 p.m. | Uruguay vs. Tahiti | ESPN2/WatchESPN | |
| Wed, June 26 | 2:30 p.m. | Semifinal I – A1 vs. B2 | ESPN/WatchESPN |
| Thu, June 27 | 2:30 p.m. | Semifinal II – B1 vs. A2 | ESPN/WatchESPN |
| Sun, June 30 | 11:45 a.m. | 3rd Place Match | ESPN2/WatchESPN |
| 5:30 p.m. | Title Match | ESPN/WatchESPN |