Pre-World Cup friendlies have been running since the end of the European club season, but Friday marks the first day of serious preparation for the tournament. Eight World Cup teams are in action on Friday, with two playing against each other and the rest playing less strenuous opposition for their first warm-up match before they head to Brazil.
World Cup friendlies 2014 schedule: Eight Brazil-bound teams play Friday
England, Spain and others are in action during the first real day of World Cup prep.
Andrew Redington
World Cup
Most eyes will be on defending champions Spain, who play at 4 p.m. ET, and England, whose potential lineup is pretty up in the air. Roy Hodgson should surprise some people, and given the defensive nature of his Euro 2012 side, possibly elicit some groans.
Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Ivory Coast play the one game on Friday that features two sides that are on their way to Brazil. For the purposes of this friendly, Bosnia are playing the part of Greece for Les Elephants, while they're mimicking Nigeria for their opponents. It's not perfectly like-for-like, but it's not a bad warm-up either.
Schedule (all times ET)
Iran vs. Angola - 2 p.m.
Switzerland vs. Jamaica - 2:30 p.m.
England vs. Peru - 3 p.m.
Spain vs. Bolivia - 4 p.m.
Uruguay vs. Northern Ireland - 7:30 p.m.
Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Ivory Coast - 8:30 p.m.
Chile vs. Egypt - 8:30 p.m.
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