Three hosts, 48 teams and 104 games: How the 2026 FIFA World Cup will work

Next year's World Cup will be the biggest one yet.

For the first time since the 1998 tournament in France, the upcoming tournament will be bigger than the previous edition. Co-hosts Canada, Mexico and the United States will welcome 48 teams to the quadrennial, a 50 percent increase over Qatar 2022.

The very fact that games will be staged in three countries is new, too — the North American triumvirate will be the first three-country co-hosts for a World Cup.

• Read next | FIFA World Cup 2026 match ball: The Trionda explained

More teams means more games, and FIFA has confirmed that there will be 104 matches played at the 2026 competition. This is a massive increase not only from the 64 matches played in Qatar in 2022, but also from the 80 games originally scheduled for the upcoming tournament. With 78 games, the United States will host the lion's share of the matches, while Canada and Mexico will each have 13 games played inside their respective borders.

With such a monumental shift in numbers, the 2026 World Cup will be very different from any of its predecessors. 

Here's how it will work.

When is the 2026 World Cup?

The tournament kicks off June 11, 2026 with Mexico taking on an as-yet-unknown opponent at the famed Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

Nearly six weeks later, the last of the 104 games will be played at MetLife Stadium just outside of New York City on July 19, 2026 .

World Cup schedule and key dates:

• Group stages: June 11-27
• Round of 32 : June 28-July 3
• Round of 16 : July 4-7
• Quarter-finals : July 9-11
• Semi-finals : July 14-15
• Bronze final: July 19
• Final: July 19

Three automatic qualifiers

All three co-hosts received automatic qualification to the 2026 World Cup, confirmed by the FIFA Council on February 14, 2023.

With a vastly expanded field, there was no reason to ask any of Canada, Mexico or the USA to go through the qualification process and risk missing out on the World Cup in their own backyard.

More teams from each confederation

This one is obvious. Every continent received more spots at the 2026 World Cup given the decision to add 16 more teams to the equation.

The break down, as confirmed by FIFA in 2017:

• AFC: 8 ^1/3
• CAF: 9 ^1/3
• CONCACAF: 6 ^1/3 + ^1/3
• CONMEBOL: 6 ^1/3
• OFC: 1 ^1/3
• UEFA: 16

The six slots designated as " ^1/3 " will make up an intercontinental playoff for the final two berths at the 2026 World Cup. As hosts, CONCACAF received an extra ^1/3 slot.

Which teams have qualified?

So far, 42 teams have booked their spots for the World Cup, with six more nations to be added early next year through play-offs.

Here are the teams who have qualified so far:

More groups

FIFA originally wanted 16 groups of three teams each for this tournament — hence the 80 total matches in the original format — but more sensible heads prevailed and the governing body confirmed that the four-team groups will return.

“The revised format mitigates the risk of collusion and ensures that all the teams play a minimum of three matches while providing balanced rest time between competing teams,” FIFA said.

That means there will be be 12 groups of four teams each, with groups to be confirmed at the official 2026 World Cup draw on December 5.

• Read next | FIFA World Cup 2026: Who are the mascots? What animals are they and what are their names?

16 venues

The number of host venues will double from Qatar 2022, with 16 venues set to host in 2026.

United States

11 venues

• MetLife Stadium - East Rutherford, N.J.
• AT&T Stadium - Arlington, Texas. 
• Arrowhead Stadium - Kansas City, Mo.
• NRG Stadium - Houston, Texas
• Mercedes-Benz Stadium - Atlanta, Ga.
• SoFi Stadium - Inglewood, Calif.
• Lincoln Financial Field - Philadelphia, Pa.
• Lumen Field - Seattle, Wash.
• Levi's Stadium - Santa Clara, Calif.
• Gillette Stadium - Foxborough, Mass.
• Hard Rock Stadium - Miami Gardens, Fla.

Mexico

3 venues

• Estadio Azteca - Mexico City, CDM
• Estadio BBVA - Monterrey, Nuevo Leon
• Estadio Akron - Guadalajara, Jalisco

Canada

2 venues

• BC Place - Vancouver, B.C.
• BMO Field - Toronto, Ont.

​ DAZN/FIFA

Watch World Cup archive, highlights and documentaries for FREE on DAZN

DAZN is the home of FIFA+ , a vast library of football on-demand content including World Cup archive, iconic documentaries, player profiles, live matches and both full match replays and highlights.

Watch it all for FREE on DAZN on smart TVs, phones, tablets, streaming devices, games consoles and web browsers.

FIFA+ includes:

• FIFA World Cup archive - full match replays of all matches from Brazil 1970 to Qatar 2022
• World Cup goals - the best goals from each tournament; every goal from every nation from every tournament
• Original documentaries - including Mo: A Global Icon; Golden Boot: The Documentary; After Diego
• Icons of the game - From Pelé to Cristiano Ronaldo
• Behind-the-scenes content
• Live matches from around the world

If you do not already have the FREE DAZN App, then it is easy to download and register for free to start watching

Follow these instructions....

• Download the free DAZN App from your normal App store on your TV, phone, tablet, or streaming device
• On a laptop or PC  visit www.DAZN.com/home
• Select 'Get started' or 'log in'
• Enter your email address, or sign up via the Apple, Google or Facebook options
• You then have access to all of DAZN's free content, including the Matchroom boxing channel, LIV Golf and FIFA+