GAME TIMES ACROSS THE TIME ZONES

8:30 P.M.

TOKYO/SEOUL

Home audience gets prime-time treatment, starting with defending champion France playing Senegal on Friday. Other first-round games start at 3:30 p.m. local time.

12:30 P.M.

UNITED KINGDOM

Midday and 7:30 a.m. starts could thin the work force. The Church of England allows changing the time of Sunday services to avoid clash with first match against Sweden.

8:30 A.M.

BRAZIL

The early morning starts figure to be a little harder to handle than the 3:30a.m. games for the nocturnal samba soccer crowd in a nation that has won the event four times.

4:30 A.M.

LOS ANGELES

The faithful can find the action live on cable, but for the most part, America sleeps through another World Cup. Games here start between 11:30 p.m. and 4:30 a.m.