Asian Games 2026 Schedule: Full Dates, Sports & Key Finals
The complete Asian Games 2026 schedule, from the first basketball tip-off on September 10 to the closing ceremony on October 4 in Nagoya — dates for every major sport, ceremonies, and finals.
Asian Games 2026 Key Dates at a Glance
The Aichi-Nagoya Organising Committee released the full competition schedule on January 13, 2026. Competition actually begins nine days before the opening ceremony, with basketball tipping off on September 10 and football and cricket group stages underway before the flame is lit.
| Date | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Sep 10, 2026 | Competition begins — 5×5 basketball group stage (Aichi International Arena) |
| Sep 14, 2026 | Men’s football group stage kicks off across 7 venues |
| Sep 16, 2026 | Indoor volleyball begins |
| Sep 17, 2026 | Cricket (T20) begins at Korogi Sports Park, Nisshin |
| Sep 19, 2026 | Opening Ceremony — 18:00 JST, Paloma Mizuho Stadium, Nagoya |
| Sep 20, 2026 | First medal day: 31 gold medals awarded; swimming begins at Tokyo Aquatics Centre |
| Sep 23-29, 2026 | Athletics at Paloma Mizuho Stadium — 50 events over 7 days |
| Sep 26-27, 2026 | Peak athletics weekend, including the marathon |
| Oct 2, 2026 | Busiest gold-medal day of the Games (51 golds); women’s football final at Shizuoka Stadium |
| Oct 3, 2026 | Men’s football final (Toyota Stadium) and men’s cricket final |
| Oct 4, 2026 | Closing Ceremony — 18:00 JST, Paloma Mizuho Stadium (2 finals earlier in the day) |
Source: Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Organising Committee schedule release (Jan 13, 2026), via Olympics.com and the 2026 Asian Games daily medal calendar, Wikipedia.
Schedule by Sport: When Each Major Sport Runs
Here are the confirmed competition windows for the highest-profile sports on the Asian Games 2026 schedule. Detailed session-by-session timings within these windows (for example, the exact day of the men’s 100m final) have not yet been published by the organisers.
| Sport | Dates | Venue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basketball (5×5) | Sep 10-26 | Aichi International Arena, Nagoya | Earliest sport to start |
| Football | Sep 14 – Oct 3 | 7 venues incl. Toyota Stadium | Men’s final Oct 3; women’s final Oct 2 (Shizuoka Stadium) |
| Volleyball (Indoor) | Sep 16 – Oct 3 | Okazaki (men) / Komaki (women) | Both finals Oct 3 |
| Cricket (T20) | Sep 17 – Oct 3 | Korogi Sports Park, Nisshin | Men’s final Oct 3; India defend both titles |
| Swimming | Sep 20-25 | Tokyo Aquatics Centre | 41 gold events across 6 days |
| Artistic Gymnastics | Sep 20-24 | Kasugai | 14 golds; apparatus finals Sep 23-24 |
| Badminton | Sep 20-29 | Ichinomiya | 7 gold events |
| Water Polo | Sep 20 – Oct 3 | Rainbow Pool, Nagoya | |
| Athletics | Sep 23-29 | Paloma Mizuho Stadium | 50 events; marathon on the Sep 26-27 peak weekend |
| Esports | Sep 23 – Oct 2 | Aichi Sky Expo, Tokoname | 11 medal events, roughly one title per day |
| Sailing | Sep 26 – Oct 3 | Kaiyoh Yacht Harbor, Gamagori | 14 gold events |
| Rhythmic Gymnastics | Oct 2-3 | Kasugai | Finals; trampoline Sep 28 |
Where the Action Happens
The Games span roughly 53 venues across five prefectures. Ceremonies and athletics are at Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya. Swimming and diving were moved to the Tokyo Aquatics Centre (a 2020 Olympic venue), while Toyota Stadium hosts the men’s football final and the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname stages esports, skateboarding, BMX freestyle, fencing, and breaking. Track cycling runs at the Izu Velodrome in Shizuoka, and surfing debuts at Tahara Akabane Long Beach. Instead of a single athletes’ village, around 4,000 athletes will stay aboard a cruise ship docked at Nagoya’s Kinjo Pier, with the rest in villa-style housing and hotels.
How Many Sports and Events Are on the 2026 Schedule?
The OCA-approved program comprises 469 medal events across 43 sports and 71 disciplines — 12 fewer events than Hangzhou 2022. (Some outlets count it as 41 sports and 461 events under a different counting convention that groups aquatic and combat disciplines together.) Six sports make their Asian Games debut in 2026: freestyle BMX, mixed martial arts, padel, surfing, teqball, and virtual taekwondo. For the full sport-by-sport breakdown and every event we track, see our Asian Games 2026 sports & events guide.