The 23rd FIFA World Cup
The 2026 World Cup is the largest tournament in football history. Forty-eight teams. One hundred and four matches. Sixteen cities across three nations. The first World Cup hosted by more than two countries, and the first to expand beyond thirty-two teams in nearly thirty years.
Six confederations
The 48 teams arrived through six confederation qualifying campaigns plus the host allocation. UEFA's sixteen places make it the largest single confederation; OFC has its first guaranteed berth in World Cup history. The intercontinental playoff in Mexico in March 2026 settled the final two slots.
How it works
Twelve groups of four play three round-robin matches each. Top two automatically qualify; eight best third-placed sides also advance.
A new round, single-leg knockout. Sixteen matches across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Winners go through to the Round of 16.
Round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the Final at MetLife. A third-place play-off is held in Miami the day before.
A brief history
From thirteen teams in Uruguay in 1930 to forty-eight teams across North America in 2026, the World Cup has expanded almost continuously. Three of the eight different winners of the trophy were not at the previous tournament; one of them — Italy — has now missed three in a row.
Common questions
01 Why 48 teams instead of 32? +
FIFA expanded the tournament from 32 to 48 teams for the 2026 edition. The 48-team format means twelve groups of four, with the top two from each group plus the eight best third-placed sides advancing to a new Round of 32. The expansion adds 40 matches to the tournament — 104 in total, up from 64.
02 How does the new Round of 32 work? +
The Round of 32 is a brand new stage added for 2026. The twelve group winners and twelve runners-up are joined by the eight best third-placed teams across all groups, ranked by points, goal difference, goals scored, and a fair-play tiebreaker. The thirty-two qualifiers play single-leg knockout matches between June 28 and July 3.
03 Why are the host nations split across three countries? +
The successful "United" bid in 2018 was a joint US/Canada/Mexico submission. Each host nation plays its three group-stage matches in its own country. Knockout matches are distributed across all sixteen venues, with the latter rounds concentrated in the United States. The final is at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19.
04 Which teams qualified for the first time? +
Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan are all making their World Cup debut. Curaçao becomes the smallest nation by population ever to qualify for the World Cup, with Cape Verde the second-smallest. Iraq returned to the World Cup for the first time since 1986.
05 How do the two semi-final pathways work? +
FIFA introduced a competitive-balance rule for the 2026 draw. The two highest-ranked teams (Spain and Argentina) were drawn into opposite halves of the bracket, as were the third- and fourth-ranked teams (France and England). If those four sides win their respective groups, they cannot meet until the semi-finals at the earliest, and the top two cannot meet before the final.
06 Where can I see the full schedule? +
The complete 104-match schedule, including kick-off times in US Eastern, is on the schedule page. You can filter by stage, drill into any individual venue or team, or use the bracket page to see the knockout tree.