The2026 FIFA World Cup, marketed asFIFA World Cup 26,[2] will be the 23rdFIFA World Cup, thequadrennial international men'ssoccer championship contested by thenational teams of the member associations ofFIFA. The tournament will take place from June 11 to July 19, 2026. It will be jointly hosted by 16 cities in three North American countries; the main host country of matches is the United States, while Canada and Mexico will be the auxiliary hosts. The tournament will be the first to be hosted by three nations.[3][4]
This tournament will be the first to include 48 teams, expanded from 32. TheUnited 2026 bid beat arival bid by Morocco during a final vote at the68th FIFA Congress inMoscow. It will be the first World Cup since2002 to be hosted by more than one nation. With its past hosting of the1970 and1986 tournaments, Mexico will become the first country to host or co-host the men's World Cup three times. The United States previously hosted the men's World Cup in1994, whereas it will be Canada's first time hosting or co-hosting the men's tournament. The event will also return to its traditional Northern Hemisphere summer schedule after the2022 World Cup inQatar was held in November and December.
The general idea of expanding the tournament had been suggested as early as 2013 by then-UEFA presidentMichel Platini,[5][6] and also in 2016 by FIFA presidentGianni Infantino.[7] Opponents of the proposal argued that the number of games played was already at an unacceptable level,[8] that the expansion would dilute the quality of the games,[9][10] 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.[11]
Starting with this edition, the FIFA World Cup expanded to 48 teams, an increase of 16 from the previous 7 tournaments.[12] The teams will be split into 12 groups of 4 teams, with the top 2 of each group and the 8 best third-placed teams progressing to a new round of 32, as approved by theFIFA Council on March 14, 2023.[13] This is set to be the first expansion and format change since1998.
The total number of games played will increase from 64 to 104, and the number of games 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 the2014 and2018 tournaments.[14][15] Each team will still play three group matches.[16][17] 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 remains identical to the2010, 2014 and 2018 tournaments.[13]
Previous expansion formats
The expansion to 48 teams had already been approved on January 10, 2017, when it was decided that the tournament would include 16 groups of 3 teams, and 80 matches in total, with the top two teams of each group progressing to a round of 32.[12][18] Under this later-superseded format, the maximum number of games per team would have remained at seven, but each team would have played one fewer group match than before. The tournament still would have been completed within 32 days.[19] The later-superseded format was 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.[20][21][22]
Critics of the later-superseded format argued that the use of three-team groups with two teams progressing significantly increased the risk of collusion between teams.[23] This promptedFIFA to suggest thatpenalty shoot-outs may be used to prevent draws in the group stage,[24] although even then some risk of collusion would remain, and a possibility would emerge of teams deliberately losing shootouts to eliminate a rival.[23] To address these concerns, FIFA continued considering alternative formats[25] – a process that ended with the 2023 announcement that the format would be 12 groups of 4 teams.
TheFIFA 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,[26] 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.[27][28] In March 2017, FIFA presidentGianni Infantino confirmed that "Europe (UEFA) and Asia (AFC) are excluded from the bidding following the selection ofRussia andQatar in 2018 and 2022 respectively."[29] Therefore, the 2026 World Cup could be hosted by one of the remaining four confederations:CONCACAF (North America; last hosted in1994),CAF (Africa; last hosted in2010),CONMEBOL (South America; last hosted in2014), orOFC (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 the2002 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.[27]
Canada, Mexico, and the United States had all publicly considered bidding for the tournament separately, but the United joint bid was announced on April 10, 2017.[30][31] 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 theQuerétaro–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.[32]
The voting took place on June 13, 2018, during the68th FIFA Congress inMoscow, and it was opened to all 203 eligible members.[33] The United bid won with 134 valid ballots, while the Morocco bid received 65 valid ballots. Iran voted for the option "None of the bids", while Cuba, Slovenia, and Spain abstained from voting.Ghana was suspended by FIFA due to a corruption scandal and was therefore ineligible to vote.[34][35][36][37][38]
During the bidding process, 41 cities with 43 existing, fully functional venues with regular tenants (except Montreal) and 2 venues under construction submitted to be part of the bid (3 venues in 3 cities in Mexico; 9 venues in 7 cities in Canada; 38 venues in 34 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, andVancouver) dropped out due to FIFA's unwillingness to discuss financial details.[39] AfterMontreal dropped out in July 2021 due to lack of provincial funding and support to renovateOlympic Stadium,[40] Vancouver rejoined the bid as a candidate city in April 2022,[41] bringing the total number to 24 venues, each in its own city or metropolitan area.
On June 16, 2022, the sixteen host cities (2 in Canada, 3 in Mexico, 11 in the United States) were announced byFIFA: 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.[42] Eight of the sixteen chosen stadiums have permanentartificial turf surfaces that are planned to be replaced with grass under the direction of FIFA and aUniversity of Tennessee–Michigan State University research team. Four venues (Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and Vancouver) are indoor stadiums that useretractable roof systems, all equipped with climate control while a fifth, Los Angeles, is open-air but has a translucent roof and no climate control.[43] The host of thefinal match—MetLife Stadium inEast Rutherford, New Jersey—was announced by FIFA on February 4, 2024.[44]
Mexico City is the only capital of the three host nations chosen as a venue site, withOttawa andWashington, D.C., joiningBonn (West Germany, 1974) andTokyo (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 ofFedExField, it combined its bid with nearbyBaltimore's, which was unsuccessful. Other cities eliminated from the final hosting list wereCincinnati,Denver, Nashville,Orlando, andEdmonton. Ottawa's candidate venue,TD Place Stadium, was eliminated early on due to insufficient capacity.[48] None of the stadiums used in the1994 FIFA World Cup will be used in this tournament, andEstadio Azteca is the only stadium in this tournament that was used in the1970 and1986 FIFA World Cups.[49]
Due to FIFA's rules on stadiumsponsorships, the venues will use alternative names for the duration of the tournament,[50] given here in parentheses.
A † denotes a stadium used for previous men's World Cup tournaments.
In addition to the official team base camps, Canadian communities inAlberni Valley onVancouver Island also sought to be a training camp. The proposal, as an eligible community to host a participating national team for pre-tournament training, was officially recognized by FIFA in July 2025.[56] The proposal centers around the use of the natural-grass field atBob Dailey Stadium and is noted as the only publicly declared non-host Canadian city to achieve this status for the 2026 tournament.[57][56]
The United Bid personnel anticipated that all three host countries would be awarded automatic berths.[58] On August 31, 2022, FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed that six CONCACAF teams will qualify for the World Cup, with Canada, Mexico, and the United States automatically qualifying as hosts.[59][60] This was confirmed by theFIFA Council on February 14, 2023.[61][62]
Immediately prior to the 67thFIFA Congress, the FIFA Council approved the slot allocation in a meeting inManama, Bahrain.[63][64] This includes an intercontinental playoff tournament involving six teams to decide the last two FIFA World Cup spots.[65]
The six teams in the playoffs will comprise one team from each confederation excludingUEFA, and one additional team from the confederation of the host countries (CONCACAF). Two of the teams will be seeded based on theWorld Rankings, and they will play the winners of two knockout games between the four unseeded teams for the twoFIFA World Cup berths. The four-game tournament is to be played in one or more of the host countries, and will also be used as a test event for the FIFA World Cup.[63] The ratification of slot allocation also gives theOFC a guaranteed berth in the final tournament for the first time: the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the first tournament in which all six confederations have at least one guaranteed berth. This will also be the first time since the2010 edition in which all continents have a team qualified for the World Cup finals.[63]
Eritrea withdrew from qualification prior to playing any matches, due to concerns that players would seek political asylum if allowed to travel overseas.[66][67][68]Congo, drawn in the same group as Eritrea, was suspended on February 6, 2025, due to government interference inFECOFOOT operations.[69][70] CAF initially cancelled Congo's remaining matches.[71] However, Tanzania and Zambia were later awarded 3–0 victories by forfeit.[72] The suspension was lifted by FIFA on May 14, 2025.[73]
As it has already been confirmed that the first game of the tournament will take place at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on June 11, Mexico has been automatically placed in Group A. Canada will play the third match and has been placed in Group B, while the United States will play the fourth match and is in Group D; both Canada and the United States will begin on June 12.[1][79]
Match schedule
The match schedule, without group assignments, was announced on February 4, 2024.[1][80][81] On June 13, 2024, FIFA released an updated match schedule, with specific pairings assigned to venues for knockout stage matches.[82] In addition, group stage matches were assigned to specific groups (though match pairings for non-host groups will not be assigned to specific fixtures until after the final draw).
The opening match was announced to include Mexico, taking place on June 11, 2026, at theEstadio Azteca inMexico City. The opening match involving Canada will take place on June 12 atBMO Field inToronto, while the opening game for the United States will take place on the same day atSoFi Stadium inInglewood. Each host nation was scheduled to play its three matches in the group stage within its own country.
Host cities were geographically grouped to optimize travel for teams and fans, with the exception of Canada and its opponent for the opening game in Toronto. Cities were split 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).
Four out of 12 groups were allocated for the Central region, three groups in the Western region, a shared-region group with Canada and the rest in the Eastern region.
The ranking of teams in each group is determined by the points obtained in all group matches. If two or more teams are equal on points, the following criteria are used to determine the ranking:[87]
Most points obtained in the group matches played between the teams concerned;
Superior goal difference in the group matches played between the teams concerned;
Most goals scored in the group matches played between the teams concerned;
If, after having applied criteria a to c, teams still had an equal ranking, criteria a to c are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams who are still level to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria d to h apply.
Superior goal difference in all group matches;
Most goals scored in all group matches;
Highest team conduct ("fair play") score in all group matches (only one deduction can be applied to a player or team coach/official in a single match):
Yellow card: −1 point;
Indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
Better position in progressively older FIFA Men's World Rankings until teams can be separated;
Prior to the final draw, stadiums were assigned to specific groups.[88] Following the final draw, pairings will be allocated to specific matches, and the kickoff times will be confirmed.[81]
First match(es) will be played: June 11, 2026. Source: FIFA Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Team conduct score; 5) LatestFIFA ranking; 6) Previous FIFA ranking(s) until decision reached.
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.[87]
The official emblem and brand identity was unveiled on May 17, 2023, at theGriffith Observatory inLos Angeles,California; its basic form consists of a stacked "26" with an image of theFIFA World Cup Trophy in front of it (marking the first time that the trophy has been depicted in a World Cup emblem as a photo, as opposed to a stylized representation), but it is designed to be adaptable to different backdrops.[89][90] The next day, FIFA unveiled variants of the emblem for each of the host cities, which feature color variants and designs that reflect local landscapes or culture (with the Los Angeles emblem featuring a stylized sun and wave, the Monterrey emblem featuring imagery of theCerro de la Silla mountain, and Toronto featuring the city skyline and theCN Tower).[91][92]
Reaction to the logo from the initial unveiling was largely negative, with many feeling that the design was either unfinished or uncreative compared to the emblems of past FIFA World Cup tournaments. By contrast,United States national team playerJesús Ferreira described the emblem as "beautiful".[93][90][94]
On February 12, 2015, FIFA renewed the U.S. and Canadian broadcasting rights contracts forFox (U.S. English),NBCUniversal (U.S. Spanish), andBell Media (Canada) to cover 2026, without accepting any other bids. A report inThe New York Times asserted that this extension was intended as compensation for the rescheduling of the2022 World Cup to November–December rather than its traditional June–July scheduling, as it created considerable conflicts withmajor professional sports leagues that are normally in their offseasons during the World Cup.[95][96][97]
Ticket prices for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will range initially from $60 for group stage matches to $6,730 for the final—largely increased from the USD equivalent of $69 to $1,607 in the2022 FIFA World Cup. However, in September 2025, FIFA confirmed it would usedynamic pricing for tickets for the first time, following the practice used in the2025 FIFA Club World Cup.[144] Dynamic pricing means ticket prices can rise or fall depending on demand for any given match. Hospitality seats were made available in April 2025 via FIFA's ticket partner for the event.
An initial draw period for non-hospitality seats is occurring between September 10–19, limited toVisa cardholders.
A second phase is expected to run from October 27–31 and a third phase will start after the final draw of teams on December 5. Sales will be capped at four tickets per person per match, and no person will be able to purchase more than 40 tickets for the overall tournament. FIFA is also expected to start an official resale platform.[144]
On October 2, 2025, FIFA announcedFIFA Heroes as the official video game of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, scheduled for release in 2026 onAndroid,iOS,Nintendo Switch,PlayStation, andXbox platforms.[145]
Symbols
Mascots
Maple the Moose, Zayu the Jaguar, and Clutch the Bald Eagle
The official mascots of the tournament were revealed on September 25, 2025, and areMaple, Zayu, and Clutch. Maple is amoose, Zayu is ajaguar, and Clutch is abald eagle, representing Canada, Mexico, and the United States respectively.[146] They were designed to reflect the cultural heritage of their respective countries.[147]
On May 2, 2025, reports surfaced that the match ball would be calledAdidas Trionda. The design features red, green, and blue (the three colors representing Canada, Mexico, and the United States, respectively, and also featured on the host countries' flags), as well as a white wave connecting each of the colors, hence the name using theSpanish words for three (tri) and wave (onda).[148] The design also features the national symbols of the three host countries (amaple leaf for Canada, agolden eagle for Mexico, and afive-pointed star for the United States) as well as gold embellishments to represent theWorld Cup Trophy.[149]
On May 17, 2023, the official theme song of the tournament was released, an instrumental track simply titled "FIFA World Cup 26 Theme Song".[150] In March 2025, sixteen remixes of theme were released which featured artists from each host city giving their own local spin to the song.[151]The remixers for each city were:
In January 2025,Queen's University Belfast warned about potential heat risks for most of the host cities and urged FIFA to schedule match kickoffs later into the afternoon or evening, stating that thewet-bulb globe temperature in certain host cities was higher than that of Qatar in the winter.[152] Concerns have also been raised by climate activists about the environmental impact of both the expansion to 48 teams as well as traveling between host cities, most of which will require extensive air travel and increase carbon emissions, a counter to one of FIFA's goals on sustainability.[153] During the2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which was also hosted in the United States, several matches reported high temperatures ranging from 90 to 102 °F (32 to 39 °C) and weather delays.[154][155] A report by Scientists for Global Responsibility in July 2025 calculated that the amount of greenhouse gas emissions for the tournament would make it one of the most polluting events in the world as it would be almost double the average for the last four tournaments (2022 reportedly had 5.25 million metric tons [5.79 million short tons]), roughly the same amount as 6.5 million cars driven for a year.[156]
During the bidding process, PresidentDonald Trump'sexecutive orders regarding immigration from certain Muslim-majority countries implemented during his first term were touted as a potential risk. Infantino stated, "any team, including the supporters and officials of that team, who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup."[163] In response, the Trump administration sent letters to FIFA that read, in part, that Trump was "confident" that "all eligible athletes, officials and fans from all countries around the world would be able to enter the United States without discrimination."[164]
Concerns around the staging of the tournament were also raised during the first meeting of theFIFA World Cup Task Force due to theimmigration policy of the second Donald Trump administration. In response, Vice PresidentJD Vance said, "Of course, everybody is welcome to come and see this incredible event, but when the time is up, they’ll have to go home. Otherwise, they’ll have to talk toSecretaryNoem."[165] In June 2025,a second travel ban came into effect, though it contains an exemption for athletes and their support teams entering the United States for events such as the FIFA World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting events as determined by theSecretary of State.[166]
^Cape Verde is the smallest country by area to qualify for the World Cup, and the second-least populous afterIceland in2018
^Until 1991, Uzbekistan was part of theSoviet Union, which competed at seven World Cup tournaments. Following thedissolution of the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan will become the third former Soviet republic to compete as an independent nation afterRussia in1994 andUkraine in2006. FIFA considers Russia to be the successor team of the Soviet Union.
^"New Fifa chief backs 48-team World Cup". HeraldLIVE. October 7, 2016.Archived from the original on October 10, 2016.It's an idea, just as the World Cup with 40 teams is already on the table with groups of four or five teams.
.svg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_Dec_2024.jpg){kind=icon}
.svg)
.svg)