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 - 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?
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.
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
What are the dates for the World Cup 2026?
The World Cup 2026 will take place between June 11 2026 and July 19 2026.
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
Which countries have qualified for the World Cup 2026?
CONCACAF
AFC
CAF
CONMEBOL
OFC
UEFA
- Austria
- Belgium
- Croatia
- England
- France
- Germany
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Portugal
- Scotland
- Spain
- Switzerland
All three co-hosts were granted automatic qualification to the tournament, with the first teams to battle through their respective qualification groups being confirmed in the March international break.
Subsequent qualifiers around the world locked in the first 42 teams with the final six set to be decided by play-offs after the World Cup draw.
There are four teams set to make their World Cup finals debuts in 2026. Jordan, Uzbekistan, Cape Verde and Curacao will all compete at the World Cup for the first time.
Stay up to date with the latest qualifiers here.
- AFC (Asia): Eight direct qualification slots, plus one inter-continental 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
Play-offs
When are the World Cup qualification play-offs?
The remaining six World Cup spots will be claimed via play-offs, four through the UEFA play-offs and the last two through the inter-continental play-offs.
The UEFA play-offs will take place in March 2026, with 12 matches deciding which of the 16 teams still standing will claim a spot at World Cup 2026.
The semi-finals will be played on Thursday, 26 March and the finals on Tuesday, 31 March.
There are four pairs of semi-finals, each followed by a final:
- Wales vs Bosnia and Herzogovina and Italy vs Northern Ireland
- Ukraine vs Sweden and Poland vs Albania
- Slovakia vs Kosovo vs Turkey vs Romania
- Czech Republic vs Republic of Ireland and Denmark vs North Macedonia
The inter-continental play-offs offer six teams from the other confederations (two from CONCACAF and one from each of the others) a last chance to qualify.
They will be held in Mexico in March 2026 and two places are up for grabs.
In the first semi-final, New Caledonia and Jamaica will meet for the right to play DR Congo for a World Cup spot.
Bolivia and Suriname will play in the other semi-final, with Iraq waiting in the final.
The semi-finals will be played on Thursday, 26 March and the finals on Tuesday, 31 March.
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 qualified as the top team in CONMEBOL with 12 wins in 18 qualifiers.
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.
Further details can be found HERE.
Mascots
FIFA unveiled the faces of the World Cup in September, giving the world plenty of time to familiarise itself with the animated representatives of Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Maple the Moose is the Canadian mascot, "a street style-loving artist, music enthusiast and dedicated goalkeeper," according to the FIFA website
The Mexican mascot is Zayu the Jaguar, who is "a symbol of cultural celebration and connection, carrying the heart of Mexico with pride." Zayu is the only mascot with a captain's armband.
Finally, the US representative is Clutch the Bald Eagle, whose name is terrible zoological guidance but "possesses an unquenchable thirst for adventure."
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.
Tickets
When will World Cup 2026 tickets be on sale?
Ticket drops are coming steadily, with the most recent batch of a million tickets going on sale in November.
There will likely be more tickets on sale in the coming months.
Official match ball
What is the official match ball at the World Cup 2026?
An official match ball for the World Cup 2026 is the Adidas Trionda.
Kits
When are the kits for the 2026 World Cup released?
Adidas released the first home shirts for the tournament in November 2025, with World Cup 2026 kits steadily dropping between now and next summer.
