La Liga expected to reschedule Real Madrid opener after World Cup progress

La Liga expected to reschedule Real Madrid opener after World Cup progress Action in the Round of 16 tie of the World Cup 2026 has already started, with Morocco and Canada playing the first game of this round, followed by a match between France and Paraguay. Morocco and France both won their games to advance to the quarter-finals, with notable contributions from Real Madrid players. For instance, in the first game, Brahim Diaz provided two assists to help his national side to a 3-0 win, despite Canada creating some problems in the first half. In the second match, it was Kylian Mbappe who scored the only goal of the game, and thus continues to increase his World Cup goal tally . These two teams are now going to face one another in the quarter-finals of the competition. This means, Brahim and Mbappe will be playing on the opposite teams for this one game. However, this match up will also have direct implications for Real Madrid beyond this emotional aspect. As Diario AS has noted, this matchup means that at least one Merengue player would advance to the semi-finals of the competition – Mbappe, Tchouameni, or Konate if France wins, or Brahim if Morocco wins. Thus, in accordance with Tebas’ recent announcement, the white club’s start of the league season, with the match against Real Sociedad, is going to be delayed. This game was previously scheduled to be played on August 14-16 th , but is now expected to be postponed to the end of the month. However, this is not going to be the only match affected, as other games between Barcelona and Athletic Club, Atletico Madrid and Malaga, and Celta Vigo and Osasuna are also expected to be delayed due to the same issue. La Liga is expected to release its schedule of the first matchday only after the semi-final ties in the World Cup are already set. For now, it remains to be seen what other matches would be affected, but for now, Real Madrid’s start of the season is set to be delayed by the World Cup.