The 2026 World Series opens on Friday, 23 October, and the Milwaukee Brewers are one win from reaching it, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-0 in the National League Championship Series.
The 2026 World Series begins with Game 1 on Friday, 23 October, according to MLB’s postseason schedule as summarised by Ticketmaster, Fox Sports and CBS Sports. Game 2 is on Saturday, 24 October, Game 3 on Monday, 26 October and Game 4 on Tuesday, 27 October. Games 5, 6 and 7, if they are needed, are on 28, 30 and 31 October.
The matchup is not yet known, since both league championship series are still under way. In the National League, the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 3, giving them a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series and putting the Dodgers on the brink of elimination, according to CBS Sports. A team that leads 3-0 needs one more win.
In the American League, the Rays levelled their series with the Guardians at 1-1 with a 3-1 win in Game 2 on Tuesday night, according to MLB.com. The sources reviewed do not give the result of Game 1 or the details of the Game 2 performances.
The calendar shows how much time there is. The World Series cannot start before 23 October, and the schedule has no game between Game 2 and Game 3 on 25 October, which is a gap of one day, and a gap on 29 October between Games 5 and 6, according to the dates listed. Those are travel days, though the summaries do not label them as such.
A seven-game series from 23 to 31 October would last nine days on the calendar, a count made by Delima News. The earliest the series could end is Game 4 on 27 October, if one side wins all four games.
The earliest finish dates follow from the series scores. The NLCS could end in Game 4 if the Brewers win again, since they need only one more victory. The ALCS, at 1-1, cannot end before Game 5, because a team needs four wins in a best-of-seven series and would have to win Games 3, 4 and 5 in a row. Both are Delima News’ calculations from the series scores, and the sources reviewed do not give the dates of the remaining games.
The Brewers’ position is strong but not secure. A team that trails 0-3 in a best-of-seven series has to win four games in a row to advance, and the sources reviewed do not give a record of how often that has happened in major league playoffs, so Delima News does not quote one.
The ALCS has more games to play. With the series at 1-1, either team needs three more wins, and the sources reviewed do not give the dates of the next games or the identity of the home team, so those are not stated.
The World Series is played between the winners of the two league championship series, so the matchup depends on both. The Brewers are the only team in the two series with a lead that can end the series on the next game, and the sources reviewed do not say who the home-field advantage in the World Series will go to, which is decided by the regular-season records, nor the starting times of the games.
Delima News has reported on the Brewers’ earlier win over the Dodgers and on the state of the other series, and will report the World Series matchup once the league championship series have finished.
Image: American Family Field in Milwaukee, home of the Brewers (file photo). Photo: DiscoA340 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
