Excitement is already building for the next edition of the World Cup, which will be rolling around in summer 2026 with three countries sharing the hosting duties for the first time - the Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Argentina will be looking to defend the trophy they won in a scintillating final against France in 2022, while the competition will be expanded from 32 teams to a monster 48.
That makes the 23rd edition of the World Cup the biggest and most ambitious of all time. Here's everything you need to know about the competition - and make sure you bookmark this page and keep checking back from time to time as we keep it up to date with all the latest news and developments.
Where will the World Cup 2026 take place?
The United States will be home turf at a World Cup for the first time in 32 years (Image credit: Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images)
Where will the World Cup 2026 take place?
In something of a U-turn from FIFA, the World Cup 2026 will be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States. FIFA had not been keen on having more than one country as hosts since the 2002 World Cup, which was shared between Japan and South Korea.
All three countries considered bidding separately but decided in 2017 to team up. With UEFA and AFC nations not allowed to bid (because they hosted the last two), the only rival bid came from Morocco, with the North American bid winning the vote by 134 votes to 65.
The USA hosted the World Cup in 1994, while Mexico hosted in 1970 and 1986 (when they stepped in after intended hosts Colombia dropped out). Canada has never hosted a men's World Cup, but did host the Women's World Cup in 2015
Tournament format
How many teams will be at the World Cup 2026?
An unprecedented 48 teams will take part in the 2026 edition of the World Cup, which means significant alterations to both the group stage and knockout stages.
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The World Cup has been played in the same basic 32-team format since 1998, with the best two sides from eight groups of four going through to a knockout round of 16.
Now, it's going to be 12 groups of four, with the top two sides from each group going through to a knockout round of 32 - alongside the eight best-performing third-placed sides from the groups.
If you've followed the past few Euros - or are old enough to remember the days of 24-team World Cups - then it's effectively that, but twice the size.
Dates and fixtures
The World Cup dates are set already (Image credit: Marvin Ibo Guengoer – GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)
What are the dates for the World Cup 2026?
The World Cup 2026 will take place between June 11 2026 and July 19 2026.
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World Cup 2026 schedule
Group stage
June 11 – June 27 2026
Round of 32
June 28 – July 3 2026
Round of 16
July 4 – July 7 2026
Quarter-finals
July 9 – July 11 2026
Semi-finals
July 14 – July 15 2026
Third-place play-off
July 18 2026
Final
July 19 2026
Qualified countries
Only three countries are set for the tournament thus far (Image credit: Getty Images)
Which countries have qualified for the World Cup 2026?
All three co-hosts have been granted automatic qualification to the tournament, and are so far the only sides to be confirmed.
The other 45 slots will be filled as follows, with the six sides who qualify for the play-offs set to compete in an inter-confederation mini-tournament with two World Cup places up for grabs.
AFC (Asia): Eight direct qualification slots, plus one play-off slot
CAF (Africa): Nine direct qualification slots, plus one play-off slot
CONCACAF (North America, Central America and the Caribbean): On top of the three co-hosts, three direct qualification slots plus two play-off slots
CONMEBOL (South America): Six direct qualification slots, plus one play-off slot
OFC (Oceania): One direct qualification slot, plus one play-off slot
UEFA (Europe): 16 direct qualification slots, no play-off slots
Why don't Argentina get automatic qualification as reigning World Cup winners?
FIFA used to give automatic qualification to the reigning World Cup winners, doing so from 1938 to 2002 - but they did away with that from 2006.
So far no reigning champions have yet failed to qualify through the usual process, however, and Argentina currently sit pretty at the top of the CONMEBOL qualification rankings.
Groups
What are the groups for World Cup 2026?
We don't know yet, and won't until the draw is made. No date has yet been set for that, but it's expected to be sometime in late 2025.
We do know, however, that Mexico will be in Group A, Canada will be in Group B, and the USA will be in Group D.
Kick-off times
What are the kick-off times for the World Cup 2026?
Although the match dates and venues for all 104 games have been announced, the exact kick-off times are yet to be revealed – and are not expected to be until after the final draw for the group stage has been made in late 2025.
There will be up to four timeslots to fill per day during the group stage, thanks to the extended format, which could mean European viewers end up with games at rather unsociable hours.
If we're looking at previous examples in the US and Mexico: all of the games at Mexico 86 were played at either midday or 4pm local time, but there were of course only half as many games to fit in. USA 94 meanwhile had an 11:30am (Central time) kick-off time for a handful of games, which for US West Coast viewers was 9:30am and for UK viewers was 5:30pm.
Stadiums
These are the World Cup 2026 stadiums:
Canada:
BC Place, Vancouver, BC: 54,500
BMO Field, Toronto, ON: 45,736
Mexico:
Estadio Azteca, Mexico City: 87,523
Estadio BBCA, Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon: 53,500
Estadio Karon, Zapopan, Jalisco: 49,850
United States:
MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ: 82,500
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX: 80,000
Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MI: 76,416
NRG Stadium, Houston, TX: 72,220
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA: 71,000
SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA: 70,240
Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA: 69,796
Lumen Field, Seattle, WA: 69,000
Levis Stadium, Santa Clara, CA: 68,500
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA: 65,878
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL: 64,767
World Cup 2026 final
Where is the World Cup 2026 final?
Although Dallas' AT&T Stadium was initially expected to win the bid to host the final, the World Cup 2026 final will actually be held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, just ten miles outside New York City.
The stadium has previously hosted the 2014 Super Bowl final and the 2016 Copa America final, as well as WWE WrestleMania in 2013 and 2019.
Primarily an American football stadium, the Metlife will have seats specially removed for the World Cup to make it wide enough to suit FIFA's recommended pitch dimensions.
They should then, in theory, get in touch with you when information about ticket sales becomes available.
Previously, tickets have been available via the FAs of the competing countries, via general sale, and - if you're very jammy - in the form of sponsor tickets.
Official match ball
What is the official match ball at the World Cup 2026?
An official match ball for the World Cup 2026 is yet to be unveiled.
Official mascots
What is the mascot for the World Cup 2026?
Despite some spurious rumours that did the rounds a couple of years ago, no mascot has yet been announced for the World Cup 2026. It is possible we may get more than one, given there are three hosts at play.
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Steven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication, WeAreTerriers.com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023.
