The FIFA World Cup 2026 will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the international men’s soccer tournament contested by the national teams of FIFA member organizations. The event will be co-hosted by 16 cities in three countries of North America that is Mexico, Canada, and the United States. The United States will host sixty matches, including all matches from the quarterfinals onward, while neighbours Canada and Mexico will host ten. The competition will be the first to be held by three countries. This competition will be the first to have 48 teams, up from 32. The United States and Mexico have previously held men’s World Cups, and Mexico will be the first to hold three men’s championships. After hosting the FIFA World Cup in 1994, the United States will soon join Mexico, Brazil, Italy, France, and Germany on the list of countries that have hosted multiple men’s World Cups. Canada has already hosted a FIFA Women’s World Cup (2015) and a FIFA Men’s Under-20 World Cup (2007). Thus it is well-prepared to welcome the world once more for a senior men’s event.
FIFA World Cup 2026: Who will host the Next FIFA World Cup?
Between 2013 and 2017, the FIFA Council debated the constraints of hosting rotation based on regional confederations. Originally, bids from nations belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding championships were not permitted. It was temporarily altered just to restrict nations within the confederation that held the previous World Cup from seeking to host the following tournament before the regulation was restored to two World Cups. The FIFA Council did establish an exemption to provide candidacy to member associations of the confederation of the FIFA World Cup’s second-to-last host if none of the accepted bids meet the rigorous conditions. FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in March 2017 that “Europe (UEFA) and Asia (AFC) have been removed from the bidding process following the choices of Russia and Qatar in 2018 and 2022, respectively.” As a result, the 2026 World Cup could be hosted by one of the four remaining 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 if none of the four bids met the requirements.
FIFA revealed the particular sites and cities to host matches on June 16, 2022, at a ceremony in New York City that was live-streamed across the world. FIFA revealed the 16 cities that will host the 48-team tournament for the 2026 World Cup on Thursday (June 16th). Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle are among the host cities in the United States. Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Mexico City have been confirmed as hosts in Mexico, while Toronto and Vancouver have been confirmed as hosts in Canada.
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2026 FIFA World Cup: How many teams will play?
FIFA confirmed in 2017 that the 2026 World Cup would be the first to adopt a format other than the 32-team model used since the 1998 edition in France. The tournament field will increase by 50% to 48 nations. This will result in a rise in worldwide interest and more games throughout the tournament. However, FIFA affirmed that the new structure would not raise the maximum number of games any side may play, with the cap remaining seven matches for each finalist.
The group stage for the 2026 World Cup will be divided into 16 groups of three teams under the new system.
2026 FIFA World Cup Teams: Ditching 3 Team-Group Format
For the 2026 World Cup in the US, Mexico, and Canada, the tournament’s organizers’ are becoming more amenable to dropping the current three-team group structure. It follows worries that the expanded, 48-team competition may become too diluted if there were too many dead rubbers in the final round of matches. There have reportedly been “informal talks” and “corridor dialogues” in Doha about the advantages of using 12 groups of four teams rather than 16 groups of three teams, despite FIFA’s official stance remaining unchanged, according to several sources.
If the top two teams from each group, together with the eight best third-place teams, go to a 32-team knockout stage, which is 40 more games than would be played at Qatar 2022, that might result in a World Cup that lasts 104 games.
The game acknowledges that three-team groups have significant problems. One is that it might result in unofficial agreements being made in the last game, say, if both clubs needed a high-scoring draw to advance on goal differential. Similar to the previous scenario, if one team loses its first two games, the outcome of the group’s last game would only determine which two nations would advance to the elimination round. If Fifa needed any reminders, the dramatic finishes to Poland v. Argentina and Saudi Arabia v. Mexico on Wednesday in Group D served as a timely reminder of how an eight-team group format can produce enormous tension and instability.
Whatever happens, there will be more World Cup games. Since the transition to 32 teams in 1998, there have been 64 matches in the tournament. A three-group system will result in at least 80 games if the number of participants is increased to 48 for 2026.
2026 FIFA World Cup: When will be the Next FIFA World Cup?
The 2026 FIFA World Cup dates and exact schedule is not released yet. However, it is scheduled to begin on Friday, June 5, 2026, and conclude on Sunday, July 5, 2026. That means the tournament will last 31 days, although the dates will be announced soon.
2026 FIFA World Cup: FAQs
The probable date for FIFA World Cup 2026 is from June 5, 2026, to July 5, 2026. The dates may change, for more updates follow our page.
Three countries will host FIFA World Cup 2026, they are North America, Canada, and Mexico.
The United States and Mexico hosted for FIFA World Cup back in 1994.
The number of teams qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup is not been officially released. Follow our page for more updates regarding FIFA World Cup 2026.
16 cities across North America, Mexico, and Canada will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup according to the official announcement.
