MA: Some MBTA riders may not return to Boston until 4 a.m. after the first World Cup match

June 13 will be a late night for the MBTA.

The first of the region’s seven World Cup matches kicks off in Foxborough at 9 p.m. When the final whistle blows about two hours later that Saturday night, throngs of fans will file out of Gillette Stadium and head to the nearby commuter rail station for the ride back to Boston.

The MBTA has committed to transporting up to 20,000 people to and from the stadium for each World Cup match. With 14 trains departing about every 15 minutes, the last train is not expected to leave Foxborough until three-and-a-half hours after the matches conclude.

Factoring in travel time, that means some attendees of the June 13 match will not arrive back in Boston until about 4 a.m. the next day, an hour or so before sunrise.

“The timing of the June 13th match presents a significant challenge given the 3.5-hour egress time,” an MBTA spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

The MBTA has said its four subway lines and select bus routes — including the SL1, SL3, SL4, SL5, 1, 22, 39, 66 and 110 — will run until 4 a.m. following the match.

But on most commuter rail lines, the last train departs around midnight — a challenge for match attendees staying in Worcester, on the North Shore or in other more distant areas of the state.

“We are exploring options to accommodate these passengers and will share more with the public soon,” the MBTA spokesperson said.

The agency and other public officials have urged match attendees to rely on public transit and avoid driving to Foxborough.

The stadium, located about 20 miles from Boston, is known for its heavy traffic on game or concert days.

Traveling to the matches via car will also be costly.

Parking at the stadium will start at $175 and jump as high as $270 during the tournament’s knockout stage. The stadium parking lots will be about one-quarter of their normal capacity — down from 20,000 spots to about 5,000 — to allow additional security and match-day events.

On a normal weekday, an Uber or Lyft trip from Boston to Foxborough can cost about $50 one way, a rate likely to surge on match days.

“Compared to driving, parking and event-day traffic delays, the MBTA Commuter Rail provides one of the easiest, most predictable, most affordable ways to get to and from Boston Stadium,” the T said in a statement last week.

Round-trip commuter rail tickets to the World Cup matches will cost $80, significantly higher than normal event train fares of $20. But the ticket allows unlimited travel anywhere on the commuter rail system on the day of the match.

When Brazil played France at Gillette Stadium in March, about a third of the MBTA’s event train tickets were sold on the day of the match. The T sold 3,000 of a possible 8,000 tickets.

Phillip Eng, the MBTA General Manager and Massachusetts transportation secretary, said last week that he expects World Cup trains to be near capacity.

“I envision that we will be very close to it if we don’t sell out,” Eng said. He also expects the train to grow more popular in subsequent matches as attendees look to dodge the stadium traffic.

None of the tournament’s other six matches in Foxborough start as late as the June 13 face-off between Haiti and Scotland.

The other six matches, all scheduled for weekdays, kick off between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.

The T said it did not expect passengers returning from those World Cup matches to have issues connecting to the last commuter rail trains of the day.

After each of those matches, the subway and select bus routes will run until 2 a.m., the MBTA said.

The 23, 28, 57, 111 and 116 bus routes also run about one hour later than other routes every day.

Subway and bus service will begin each day at the normal scheduled times during the tournament. Subway service starts running at about 5:15 a.m. on weekdays, 5:30 a.m. on Saturdays and 6 a.m. on Sundays. Some bus routes begin as early as 4:30 a.m.

How will regular commuters be affected?

Throughout the tournament, regular commuter rail riders will face schedule changes.

From June 8 to July 12, trains will run less frequently to accommodate the trains transporting fans to World Cup matches. Most peak service during weekday commuting hours will be unaffected, the MBTA said.

On match days and on June 14, the day after the late-night match, commuter rail lines serving South Station will experience additional schedule changes.

On the Stoughton line, for example, shuttle buses will replace train service between Canton Junction and Stoughton on weekday match days.

The Needham line will have no weekend train service on June 13 and 14.

On matchdays, there will be no Franklin/ Foxboro line service to Foxboro or between Readville and Windsor Gardens. Shuttle buses will operate between Forge Park/495 and Walpole, connecting riders to the Providence line at Canton Junction.

Full details on the schedule adjustments to each line can be found on the MBTA’s website.

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