World Cup 2026 in Canada, USA, Mexico
Date: June 11 to July 19, 2026.
Number of teams: 48
Champion 2022: Argentina
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men's soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament will take place from June 11 to July 19, 2026. It will be jointly hosted by sixteen cities - eleven in the United States, three in Mexico, and two in Canada.
The tournament will be the first FIFA World Cup to be hosted by three nations, and the first to include 48 teams, an expansion from 32. The United 2026 bid beat a rival bid by Morocco during a final vote at the 68th FIFA Congress in Moscow. It will be the first men's World Cup since 2002 to be co-hosted by multiple nations.
With its past hosting of the 1970 and 1986 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 in 1994. By contrast, it will be Canada's first time hosting or co-hosting the men's tournament. The event will return to its traditional Northern Hemisphere summer schedule after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was held in November and December.
As the host nations, Canada, Mexico, and the United States all automatically qualified. Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan will all make their World Cup debuts. Argentina is the defending champion, having won its third World Cup title in 2022.
Format and expansion
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.