The basics
48 teams. 104 matches. 39 days. The 2026 World Cup is the first to feature an expanded format, up from the 32-team edition held in Qatar in 2022.
The United States hosts 11 of the 16 venues, Mexico hosts three and Canada two.
Argentina arrive as defending champions looking to become only the third nation in history to win back-to-back World Cups after Italy in 1934 and 1938 and Brazil in 1958 and 1962.
The format
The 48 teams are split into 12 groups of four. The top two from each group advance automatically to the knockout stage, joined by the eight best third-placed sides – making 32 teams in total.
This introduces a brand-new Round of 32 to the World Cup for the first time. From there the tournament follows a traditional knockout format through the Round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.
The venues
The tournament opens at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City – becoming the first stadium in history to host matches at three different World Cups.
The final takes place at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on 19 July.
The semi-finals are held at AT&T Stadium in Dallas and Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Miami hosts the third-place play-off.
South Africa
Bafana Bafana make their first World Cup appearance since 2010 – and only their second qualification on merit after 2002. Hugo Broos’ side are in Group A alongside co-hosts Mexico, Czech Republic and South Korea.
They open the tournament against Mexico at the Estadio Azteca on 11 June at 22:00 SAST – a repeat of the famous fixture that opened the 2010 World Cup, when Siphiwe Tshabalala’s goal sent the nation into raptures.
South Africa then face Czech Republic in Atlanta on 18 June before their final group game against South Korea in Guadalupe on 25 June.
The favourites
Spain lead the way as tournament favourites, backed by their Euro 2024 triumph and the highest Elo rating in world football.
France, Argentina, Brazil and England make up the top five contenders.
Erling Haaland makes his first World Cup appearance with Norway while Kylian Mbappe needs just four goals to equal Miroslav Klose’s all-time record of 16 World Cup goals.
Key dates
11 June: Tournament opens – Mexico vs South Africa, Estadio Azteca
11 June: South Africa vs Mexico – 22:00 SAST
18 June: South Africa vs Czech Republic – 19:00 SAST
25 June: South Korea vs South Africa – 04:00 SAST
19 July: World Cup final, MetLife Stadium, New Jersey
Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
