World Cup 2026 in Canada, USA, Mexico
Date: June 11 to July 19, 2026.
Number of teams: 48
Champion 2026: Spain
The 2026 FIFA World Cup was the 23rd FIFA World Cup,
The quadrennial international men's football championship is contested by the national teams of FIFA's member associations. The tournament took place from 11 June to 19 July 2026. Hosted by sixteen cities. Eleven in the United States, three in Mexico, and two in Canada.
The tournament was 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 Morocco's rival bid in a final vote at the 68th FIFA Congress in Moscow. It was 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 became the first country to host or co-host the men's World Cup three times. The United States had previously hosted the men's World Cup in 1994. By contrast, it was Canada's first time hosting or co-hosting the men's tournament. The event returned 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 all made their World Cup debuts. Argentina was 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 again in 2016 by FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Opponents of the proposal had 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 from the previous seven tournaments. The teams were split into twelve groups of 4 teams, with the top 2 teams in each group and the 8 best third-placed teams progressing to a new round of 32, as approved by the FIFA Council on March 14, 2023.
This was the first expansion and format change since 1998.
The total number of matches played increased from 64 to 104, and the number of matches played by teams reaching the final four increased from seven to eight. The tournament lasted 39 days, up from 32 days in the 2014 and 2018 tournaments.
Each team still played three group matches. For players named in the final squads, the final matchday at club level was 24 May 2026. Clubs had to release their players by 25 May, although exceptions were granted for players participating in continental club competition finals up until 30 May. The combined rest, release and tournament periods totalled 56 days, identical to those of the 2010, 2014 and 2018 tournaments.