2026 FIFA World Cup

The idea of expanding the tournament had been suggested as early as 2013 by then UEFA president Michel Platini, and also in 2016 by FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Opponents of the proposal argued that the number of matches played was already at an unacceptable level, that the expansion would dilute the quality of the matches, and that the decision was driven by political rather than sporting concerns, accusing Infantino of using the promise of bringing more countries to the World Cup to win his election. Starting with this edition, the FIFA World Cup expanded to 48 teams, an increase of 16 teams compared to the previous seven tournaments. The teams will be split into twelve groups of four teams, with the top two teams in each group and the eight best third-placed teams progressing to a new round of 32, as approved by the FIFA Council on March 14, 2023. This is set to be the first expansion and format change since 1998. The total number of matches played will increase from 64 to 104, and the number of matches played by teams reaching the final four will increase from seven to eight. The tournament will last 39 days, an increase from 32 days of the 2014 and 2018 tournaments. Each team will still play three group matches. The final matchday at club level for players named in the final squads is May 24, 2026; clubs have to release their players by May 25, with exceptions granted to players participating in continental club competition finals up until May 30. The 56 days of the combined rest, release, and tournament periods remain identical to the 2010, 2014 and 2018 tournaments. Under this later-superseded format, the maximum number of matches per team would have remained at seven, but each team would have played one fewer group match than before. The tournament would still have been completed within 32 days. This format was initially chosen over three other proposals, ranging from 40 to 48 teams, from 76 to 88 matches, and from one to four minimum matches per team. Critics of this format argued that the use of three-team groups with two teams progressing significantly increased the risk of collusion between teams. This prompted FIFA to suggest that penalty shootouts may be used to prevent draws in the group stage, although even then some risk of collusion would remain, and a possibility would emerge of teams deliberately losing shootouts to eliminate a rival. – a process that ended with the 2023 announcement that the format would be 12 groups of 4 teams. ==Host selection==

The FIFA Council went back and forth between 2013 and 2017 on limitations within hosting rotation based on the continental confederations. Originally, it was set that bids to be host would not be allowed from countries belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding tournaments. It was temporarily changed to only prohibit countries belonging to the confederation that hosted the previous World Cup from bidding to host the following tournament, before the rule was changed back to its prior state of two World Cups. The FIFA Council made an exception to potentially grant eligibility to member associations of the confederation of the second-to-last host of the FIFA World Cup in the event that none of the received bids fulfill the strict technical and financial requirements. In March 2017, FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed that "Europe (UEFA) and Asia (AFC) are excluded from the bidding following the selection of Russia and Qatar in 2018 and 2022 respectively." Therefore, the 2026 World Cup could be hosted by one of the remaining four confederations: CONCACAF (North America; last hosted in 1994), CAF (Africa; last hosted in 2010), CONMEBOL (South America; last hosted in 2014), or OFC (Oceania, never hosted before), or potentially by UEFA in case no bid from those four met the requirements. Co-hosting the FIFA World Cup—which had been banned by FIFA after the 2002 World Cup—was approved for the 2026 World Cup, though not limited to a specific number but instead evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Also for 2026, the FIFA general secretariat, after consultation with the Competitions Committee, had the power to exclude bidders who did not meet the minimum technical requirements to host the competition. In March 2022, Liga MX president Mikel Arriola claimed Mexico's involvement as cohost could have been at risk if the league and the federation had not responded quickly to the Querétaro–Atlas riot between rival fans that left 26 spectators injured and resulted in 14 arrests. Arriola said FIFA was "shocked" by the incident but Infantino was satisfied with the sanctions handed down against Querétaro. Voting The voting took place on June 13, 2018, during the 68th FIFA Congress in Moscow, and it was opened to all 203 eligible members. The United bid won with 134 valid ballots, while the Morocco bid received 65 valid ballots. ==Venues==

During the bidding process, 41 cities with 42 existing, fully functional venues with regular tenants (except Montreal) and two venues under construction (Las Vegas and Los Angeles) submitted to be part of the bid (three venues in three cities in Mexico; six venues in six cities in Canada; 35 venues in 32 cities in the United States). A first-round elimination cut nine venues and nine cities. A second-round elimination cut an additional nine venues in six cities, while three venues in three cities (Chicago, Minneapolis, and Vancouver) dropped out due to FIFA's unwillingness to discuss financial details. After Montreal dropped out in July 2021 due to lack of provincial funding and support to renovate Olympic Stadium, Vancouver rejoined the bid as a candidate city in April 2022, bringing the total number to 24 venues, each in its own city or metropolitan area. On June 16, 2022, the sixteen host cities (two in Canada, three in Mexico, eleven in the United States) were announced by FIFA: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Monterrey, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Toronto, and Vancouver. Eight of the sixteen chosen stadiums have permanent artificial turf surfaces that are planned to be replaced with grass under the direction of FIFA and a University of Tennessee–Michigan State University research team. Depending on the venue's climate, the turf used is either a hybrid of 84% Kentucky bluegrass and 16% perennial ryegrass (for cooler temperatures), or Bermuda grass (for warmer temperatures). Four venues (Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and Vancouver) are indoor stadiums that use retractable roof systems, all equipped with climate control while a fifth, Los Angeles, is open-air but has a translucent roof and no climate control. The host of the final match—MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey—was announced by FIFA on February 4, 2024. Although there are soccer-specific stadiums in Canada and the United States, the largest dedicated soccer-specific stadium in the United States, Geodis Park in Nashville, Tennessee, seats 30,000, which falls short of FIFA's minimum of 40,000 (Toronto's BMO Field is being expanded from 30,000 to 45,500 for this tournament). Stadiums including Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and Lumen Field in Seattle are used by National Football League (NFL) and Major League Soccer (MLS) teams. Although primarily used for gridiron football, with the American stadiums hosting NFL teams and Canada's hosting the Canadian Football League (CFL), all of the Canadian and American stadiums have been used on numerous occasions for soccer and are also designed to host that sport. Mexico City is the only capital of the three host nations chosen as a venue site, with Ottawa and Washington, D.C., joining Bonn (West Germany, 1974) and Tokyo (Japan, 2002) as the only capital cities not selected to host World Cup matches. Washington was a host city candidate, but due to the poor state of FedExField, it combined its bid with nearby Baltimore's, which was unsuccessful. Other cities eliminated from the final hosting list were Cincinnati, Denver, Nashville, Orlando, and Edmonton. Ottawa's candidate venue, TD Place Stadium, was eliminated early on due to insufficient capacity. Though eight of the metropolitan areas hosting games had previously hosted World Cup games (Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York/New Jersey, and Boston in 1994; Guadalajara and Mexico City in both 1970 and 1986; Monterrey in 1986), Estadio Azteca is the only stadium in this tournament that previously hosted World Cup games, having done so in both 1970 and 1986; none of the stadiums used in the 1994 FIFA World Cup will be used in this tournament. Due to FIFA's rules on stadium sponsorships, the venues will use alternative names for the duration of the tournament, shown below in parentheses. The capacity is based on information published by FIFA. : A denotes a stadium used for previous men's World Cup tournaments. : A denotes an indoor stadium with a fixed or retractable roof with interior climate control. ==Teams==

Qualification The United Bid personnel anticipated that all three host countries would be awarded automatic berths. On August 31, 2022, FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed that six CONCACAF teams would qualify for the World Cup, with Canada, Mexico, and the United States automatically qualifying as hosts. This was confirmed by the FIFA Council on February 14, 2023. Immediately prior to the 67th FIFA Congress, the FIFA Council approved the slot allocation in a meeting in Manama, Bahrain. This included an intercontinental playoff tournament involving six teams to decide the last two FIFA World Cup spots. The six teams in the playoffs comprised one team from each confederation excluding UEFA, and one additional team from the confederation of the host countries (CONCACAF). Two of the teams were seeded based on the World Rankings, and they played the winners of two knockout matches between the four unseeded teams for the two FIFA World Cup berths. The four-match tournament was played in Mexico, one of the host countries, and was also used as a test event for the FIFA World Cup. Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan will all make their World Cup debuts. • Qatar advanced to the tournament through qualification for the first time, as its only previous appearance was as host in 2022. • DR Congo and Haiti return to the tournament after appearing in their only previous tournament in 1974. • Iraq returns to the tournament after appearing in their only previous tournament in 1986. • Austria, Norway, and Scotland return to the tournament after last appearing in 1998. • Turkey qualified for the first time since finishing third in 2002. • Czech Republic qualified for the first time since 2006. • New Zealand, Paraguay, and 2010 hosts South Africa returned after last taking part in 2010. South Africa achieved its first successful qualifying campaign since 2002 while New Zealand is the lowest ranked team to qualify, ranked 85th. • Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ivory Coast qualified for the first time since 2014. Bosnia achieved its first successful qualification process for a major tournament since the 2014 World Cup. • Colombia, Egypt, Panama, and Sweden made a return after missing out in 2022. Additionally, Italy missed out after being defeated in the European playoff final by Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties, becoming the first former champion to miss out on three consecutive World Cups. Similar to 2018 and 2022, Italy was the only former champion that did not qualify. Cameroon, Costa Rica, Denmark, Poland, Serbia, and Wales, all of whom qualified in 2022, also did not qualify for the 2026 tournament. The teams that qualified, sorted by region: AFC (9) • • • • • (debut) • • • • (debut) CAF (10) • • (debut) • • • • • • • • CONCACAF (6) • (co-host) • (debut) • • (co-host) • • (co-host) CONMEBOL (6) • • • • • • OFC (1) • UEFA (16) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Squads Before submitting their final squad for the tournament, teams will name a provisional squad of between 35 and 55 players one month before the tournament. Teams are required to name their final squads by June 2. If a player became injured or ill severely enough to prevent his participation in the tournament, he can be replaced by another player from the provsional squad until 24 hours before the team's first match. However, an injured or ill goalkeeper may be replaced by another goalkeeper from the provsional squad at any time during the tournament. Draw The draw took place on December 5, 2025, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The 48 teams were divided into four pots of 12. Pot 1 consisted of the three hosts and the top nine teams from the November 2025 FIFA Men's World Ranking. Pots 2, 3, and 4 consisted of the remaining teams according to the ranking. The four winners of the UEFA playoffs and the two winners of the inter-confederation playoffs were not known at the time of the draw and thus were automatically allocated to Pot 4. The 12 groups were randomly formed by selecting one team from each of the four pots. FIFA's "general principle, whenever possible", was that no group had more than one team from the same confederation drawn into it. This principle was applicable to all confederations except UEFA; each group was required to have either one or two UEFA teams drawn into it. The three host nations were pre-allocated to three groups for scheduling purposes. Mexico was placed in Group A and will play the opening match of the tournament at Estadio Azteca on June 11. Canada and the United States were placed in Groups B and D, respectively. They will play the third and fourth matches of the tournament, respectively, both on June 12. The confederation restriction applied to all three potential winners of the inter-confederation playoffs. FIFA also announced that, "in the interest of ensuring competitive balance", two separate pathways to the semifinals (sides of the knockout bracket) were established. Based on this, the teams ranked first (Spain) and second (Argentina) in the ranking were randomly drawn into groups in opposite pathways, as were the teams ranked third (France) and fourth (England). Therefore, should these pairs of teams win their groups, they will be unable to meet until the final, while all four will be unable to meet until the semifinals. The draw started with Pot 1 and ended with Pot 4, with each team selected then allocated into the first available group alphabetically. For the purpose of the match schedule, the Pot 1 teams were automatically drawn into position 1 of each group. For the remaining pots, FIFA established a predetermined pattern to define the position of teams based on their pot and the group they were drawn into. Result Team base camps Base camps will be used by the 48 national squads to stay and train before and during the World Cup tournament. ==Officiating==

On April 9, 2026, FIFA announced the list of 52 referees, 88 assistant referees, and 30 video assistant referees for the tournament. == Opening ceremonies ==

The tournament is set to feature three opening ceremonies, one for each of the hosts. The opening ceremony in Mexico will take place on June 11, 2026, at Estadio Banorte and feature Mexican rock band Maná, Mexican singers Alejandro Fernández, Belinda, and Lila Downs, Mexican cumbia band Los Ángeles Azules, South African singer Tyla, Colombian singer J Balvin, and Venezuelan singer Danny Ocean. The opening ceremony in Canada will take place on June 12, 2026, at BMO Field in Toronto and feature performances by Canadian singers Alanis Morissette, Alessia Cara, Jessie Reyez, Michael Bublé, Nora Fatehi, and William Prince, Palestinian singer Elyanna, Bangladeshi-American DJ Sanjoy, and French singer Vegedream. On the same day, the opening ceremony for the United States will take place at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and feature performances by American singer Katy Perry, American rapper Future, Thai rapper and Blackpink member Lisa, Brazilian singer Anitta, Nigerian singer Rema, and South African singer Tyla. In addition, two special ceremonies will take place on July 4, 2026, to honor the United States Semiquincentennial at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and NRG Stadium in Houston. ==Match schedule==

The match schedule, without group assignments, was announced on February 4, 2024. On June 13, 2024, FIFA released an updated schedule, with specific pairings assigned to venues for the knockout stage. In addition, group stage matches were assigned to specific groups (though pairings for non-host groups were not assigned to specific matches until after the final draw). The full schedule was unveiled in a live broadcast on December 6, 2025, the day after the draw. The opening match was announced to include Mexico, taking place on June 11, 2026, at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. This match will include South Africa. The opening match involving Canada will take place on June 12 at BMO Field in Toronto, while the opening match for the United States will take place on the same day at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. Each host nation is scheduled to play its three matches in the group stage within its own country. The match schedule will overlap with the 2026 CFL season, resulting in scheduling conflicts and loss of home games for the Toronto Argonauts and BC Lions. The match schedule will also affect the schedules of the Kansas City Royals, Philadelphia Phillies, Seattle Mariners, and Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball, whose home stadiums are located near World Cup venues. Host cities were geographically grouped into three regions: • Western Region (Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles) • Central Region (Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City) • Eastern Region (Atlanta, Miami, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, New York/New Jersey) ==Group stage==

Prior to the final draw, stadiums were assigned to specific groups. All times are local. Group A ---- ---- Group B ---- ---- Group C ---- ---- Group D ---- ---- Group E ---- ---- Group F ---- ---- Group G ---- ---- Group H ---- ---- Group I ---- ---- Group J ---- ---- Group K ---- ---- Group L ---- ---- Ranking of third-placed teams The specific match-ups involving the third-placed teams depend on which eight third-placed teams qualify for the round of 32. The 495 possible combinations were published in Annex C of the tournament regulations. ==Knockout stage==

Bracket Round of 32 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Round of 16 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Quarterfinals ---- ---- ---- Semifinals ---- Match for third place Final ==Statistics==

Discipline A player or team official is automatically suspended for the next match for the following offenses: During qualification, Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off for violent conduct in Portugal's penultimate match against the Republic of Ireland, with such an offense typically resulting in a ban of at least two matches. Ronaldo was handed a three-match ban, though the final two matches of the ban were suspended for a one-year probationary period, making him eligible to appear in Portugal's opening World Cup match. On May 8, 2026, the Bureau of the FIFA Council amended the tournament regulations so that pending one- or two-match suspensions resulting from an indirect red card, a direct red card for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, or a direct red card for serious foul play during qualification would no longer be carried forward to the final competition. This exempted Argentina's Nicolás Otamendi, Ecuador's Moisés Caicedo, and Qatar's Tarek Salman from serving their qualifying-round suspensions during the tournament, with the bans to instead be served in a subsequent competition.