The Women's World Cup final starts at 7 p.m. ET Sunday despite what Fox is telling you

The Women’s Word Cup final between the United States and Japan starts at 7 p.m. ET on Fox. Try to remember that over the weekend as you become horribly confused by promos and FIFA.

If you quickly glance at FIFA’s website, you’ll see that the match starts at 4:00 p.m. But wait, we just said the game started at 7 p.m., so why would you so quickly rush to believe FIFA’s claim of 4:00 (16:00 if you like math)?

FIFA lists the local Vancouver time, which is in fact 4:00.

That makes sense. FIFA is a global organization, so it’s impossible to provide the appropriate time zone based on your region (it isn’t, but whatever). FIFA’s decision to go with the host city’s timezone makes sense, albeit mildly annoying (you can change the setting to your time zone if you work for it).

If the match starts at 4:00 p.m. local time, and 7 p.m. ET, that means Fox can’t possibly start the match at 5 p.m. ET, or 2 p.m. local time unless they have developed the technology to bend the space-time continuum in which case, stop broadcasting sports on TV and start traveling time.

It’s all pretty confusing, until you realize Fox expects you to tune into two hours of pregame coverage. And what could possibly make you want to tune in two hours ahead of the match?

Again, what could possibly make you tune into two hours of pregame coverage? Nothing! Who watches two hours of pregame coverage for any event? Super Bowl, World Series, College Football Playoff, American Idol, none of these things have two hours worth of pregame coverage worth your time. Especially on a holiday weekend.

So, enjoy that barbecue, crack open two hours worth of beers, and then tune into the World Cup final between U.S. and Japan at 7 p.m. ET on Fox.