FIFA World Cup 2026: Dates, Groups, Teams, Matches, Songs and Everything You Need to Know
The most ambitious edition in football history kicks off June 11 in Mexico City. Three host nations, 48 competing teams, 104 matches — and four brand-new debutants stepping onto the world stage for the first time.
Dates and host countries
The 2026 FIFA World Cup runs from June 11 to July 19, 2026. For the first time in history, the tournament is co-organized by three nations simultaneously: the United States, Canada, and Mexico — a joint candidacy named United 2026 that won 134 votes against 65 for Morocco at the 2018 FIFA Congress in Moscow.
The opening match kicks off on June 11 at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, with Mexico facing South Africa. The final takes place on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Coldplay will headline the halftime show — a Super Bowl-style spectacle that is also a first for the World Cup.
Match breakdown by host country
Number of matches per phase
The 48-team format introduces an entirely new competition structure — 6 more rounds than previous editions and 24 more matches than Qatar 2022.
| Phase | Details | Matches |
|---|---|---|
| Group stage | 12 groups × 6 matches each | 72 |
| Round of 32 | Top 2 per group + 8 best 3rd-place teams | 16 |
| Round of 16 | — | 8 |
| Quarterfinals | — | 4 |
| Semifinals | — | 2 |
| Third-place match | — | 1 |
| Final | July 19 — MetLife Stadium, NJ | 1 |
| Total | — | 104 |
Why 48 teams? The big difference from previous editions
FIFA approved the expansion from 32 to 48 teams in January 2017, and 2026 is the first edition to apply this historic format. The difference is not merely cosmetic — it reshapes the entire structure of the competition.
- 16 more nations compared to the 2018 and 2022 editions
- 12 groups of 4 teams instead of 8 groups of 4
- A brand-new Round of 32 in the knockout stage
- Africa: from 5 to 9 spots. Asia: from 4 to 8. CONCACAF: from 3 to 6. South America: from 4 to 6
- 4 absolute debutants — Curaçao, Jordan, Uzbekistan and Cape Verde play their very first World Cup
- Historic returns: Scotland and Norway back after 28 years, Haiti back after 52 years, DR Congo back after 52 years, Turkey back after 24 years
- A third-placed team can still advance if it ranks among the 8 best third-place finishers
The 12 official groups
The draw took place on December 5, 2025 at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.
All 48 qualified nations and their World Cup appearances
| 🇲🇦 Morocco | 7 | 1970, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2018, 2022, 2026 |
| 🇩🇿 Algeria | 5 | 1982, 1986, 2010, 2014, 2026 |
| 🇪🇬 Egypt | 4 | 1934, 1990, 2018, 2026 |
| 🇸🇳 Senegal | 5 | 2002, 2006, 2018, 2022, 2026 |
| 🇿🇦 South Africa | 4 | 1998, 2002, 2010, 2026 |
| 🇬🇭 Ghana | 5 | 2006, 2010, 2014, 2022, 2026 |
| 🇨🇮 Ivory Coast | 4 | 2006, 2010, 2014, 2026 |
| 🇹🇳 Tunisia | 7 | 1978, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2018, 2026 |
| 🇨🇩 DR Congo | 2 | 1974 (as Zaïre), 2026 — return after 52 years |
| 🇨🇻 Cape Verde | 1 | DEBUT 2026 — first-ever appearance |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | 8 | 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 |
| 🇰🇷 South Korea | 12 | 1954 → 2026 — Asian record |
| 🇮🇷 Iran | 7 | 1978, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 |
| 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | 7 | 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018, 2022, 2026 |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | 7 | 1974, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 |
| 🇶🇦 Qatar | 2 | 2022, 2026 |
| 🇮🇶 Iraq | 2 | 1986, 2026 |
| 🇯🇴 Jordan | 1 | DEBUT 2026 — first-ever appearance |
| 🇳🇿 New Zealand | 3 | 1982, 2010, 2026 |
| 🇲🇽 Mexico | 17 | CONCACAF record — present since 1930 |
| 🇺🇸 United States | 12 | 1930, 1934, 1950, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2022, 2026 |
| 🇨🇦 Canada | 3 | 1986, 2022, 2026 |
| 🇵🇦 Panama | 3 | 2018, 2022, 2026 |
| 🇭🇹 Haiti | 2 | 1974, 2026 — return after 52 years |
| 🇨🇼 Curaçao | 1 | DEBUT 2026 — first-ever appearance |
| 🇧🇷 Brazil | 22 | Only nation to have played every single World Cup in history |
| 🇦🇷 Argentina | 18 | Defending champions (Qatar 2022) |
| 🇺🇾 Uruguay | 14 | Won the first two editions (1930, 1950) |
| 🇨🇴 Colombia | 7 | 1962, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2014, 2018, 2026 |
| 🇵🇾 Paraguay | 9 | 1930, 1950, 1958, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2026 |
| 🇪🇨 Ecuador | 5 | 2002, 2006, 2014, 2022, 2026 |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | 20 | Includes West Germany era — European record |
| 🏴 England | 17 | World champions 1966 |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | 16 | World champions 2010 |
| 🇫🇷 France | 16 | Two-time champions (1998, 2018) |
| 🇧🇪 Belgium | 14 | — |
| 🇸🇪 Sweden | 13 | — |
| 🇨🇭 Switzerland | 12 | — |
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 11 | Three World Cup finals (1974, 1978, 2010) |
| 🇵🇹 Portugal | 9 | Euro 2016 champions |
| 🇦🇹 Austria | 8 | Return after 28 years (last appearance: 1998) |
| 🏴 Scotland | 9 | Return after 28 years (last appearance: 1998) |
| 🇭🇷 Croatia | 7 | Runners-up 2018, 3rd place 2022 |
| 🇨🇿 Czech Republic | ~10 | Includes Czechoslovakia era (finalists 1934, 1962) |
| 🇧🇦 Bosnia-Herzegovina | 2 | 2014, 2026 |
| 🇹🇷 Turkey | 3 | Return after 24 years (1954, 2002, 2026) |
| 🇳🇴 Norway | 4 | Return after 28 years (1938, 1994, 1998, 2026) |
| 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan | 1 | DEBUT 2026 — first-ever appearance |
The official songs of the 2026 FIFA World Cup
For the first time in its history, FIFA launched a full official album for the World Cup — with singles released progressively since March 2026, each reflecting a different cultural sound from around the globe.
The FIFA World Cup is not just the biggest event in football — it is the single most-watched sporting event on Earth, ahead of the Olympics, the Super Bowl, and Formula 1. The 2022 Qatar edition reached over five billion viewers, roughly two-thirds of the global population. The final between Argentina and France alone drew more than one billion simultaneous viewers.
The reason is simple: football is the only truly universal sport. It is played on every continent, in virtually every country, with no financial barrier to playing or watching. It cuts through language, culture, class, and politics in a way that no other sporting competition has ever managed. And once every four years, 48 nations gather to decide who is best in the world. The 2026 edition raises that bar higher than ever — more nations, more stories, three host countries, and a multicultural soundtrack built to define a generation. The opening whistle sounds on June 11, 2026. Everything starts in Mexico City. ⚽