The match schedule for the Fifa Under-20 World Cup in 2015 was released yesterday and Dunedin will host seven games in 11 days, including three double-headers.
North Harbour Stadium will host the final on June 20, and one of the semifinals. Christchurch will host the other. Both are on June 17.
The quarterfinals will be staged in North Harbour, Christchurch, Wellington and Hamilton on what has been dubbed ''Super Sunday'', all four games to be played on June 14.
The opening games are on May 30, and Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium, which will be renamed Otago Stadium for the event, will see action the following day, when it hosts a group D double-header.
On June 3, there is another group D double-header, and three days later the venue hosts a group D and a group C fixture. The final match in Dunedin is a round 16 fixture on June 10.
It is a lot of football in a short space of time but stadium operations manager Coryn Huddy is comfortable the surface will cope with the workload.
''This far out, from a planning perspective, we can give ourselves the best opportunity to succeed, so I'm not concerned at all,'' Huddy said.
''The most critical period will be the four or five weeks leading up to June.''
The key will be monitoring how often the surface is used before the under-20 world cup. Football will take priority ahead of Super rugby and any other competing events.
As the host nation, New Zealand gets an automatic entry and is the only team confirmed to play at the tournament. The other 23 teams will be determined by qualification rounds, which will begin next year.
New Zealand opens the tournament on May 30 and will play two pool games in North Harbour, with the other in Wellington.
More than 9000 fans are expected to be lured to New Zealand and Fifa's second-biggest tournament will reportedly attract a television audience of more than 170 million people.
Tournament chief executive Dave Beeche said European television demands would not dictate kick-off times for the event.
Kick-off times are yet to be confirmed but they will probably be announced when the official draw is done early next year.
The past four under-20 world cups have produced average crowds of 20,000 but such figures will not be attainable in New Zealand, given the smaller size of the host venues.
''The feedback from Fifa is they'd rather see full stadiums, as a priority over scheduling for European TV times,'' Beeche said yesterday.
Such news is great for local fans, who will be able to enjoy games earlier in the evening than the 8.30pm kick-offs at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in 2011.
Additional reporting by APNZ.
