World Cup

The FIFA World Cup is football's flagship international tournament, contested every four years between the national teams of FIFA's 211 member federations. The 2026 edition is the 23rd World Cup and the first to feature 48 teams, the first to be co-hosted by three countries, and the largest edition ever staged — with 104 matches across 16 host cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

World Cup 2026 kicks off on 11 June 2026 in Mexico City and concludes with the Final on 19 July 2026 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Argentina enter as defending champions after their penalty-shootout win over France in 2022. The expanded 48-team format was designed to broaden global participation, particularly for Africa, Asia and CONCACAF, and produces a new 12-group first phase followed by a 32-team knockout round.

48 teams are drawn into 12 groups of four. Each team plays three group-stage matches. The top two from every group plus the eight best third-placed teams advance to a 32-team knockout phase, followed by a Round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, third-place play-off and Final. Knockout matches go to extra time and, if required, penalty shoot-outs.

The World Cup has no promotion or relegation. Qualification is decided within each of the six confederations — AFC (8 places), CAF (9), CONCACAF (6 plus 3 host slots), CONMEBOL (6), OFC (1) and UEFA (16) — with two additional spots decided through an intercontinental play-off tournament held in the host countries before the group stage.

• Argentina — Defending champions and CONMEBOL benchmark under Lionel Scaloni.
• France — 2022 runners-up and one of the tournament's deepest talent pools.
• Brazil — Record five-time winners chasing a first title since 2002.
• Spain — 2024 European champions and 2010 world champions, now in a new golden generation.
• Germany — Four-time winners rebuilding after successive tournament exits.

The FIFA World Cup was first held in Uruguay in 1930 and has been contested every four years since, apart from 1942 and 1946 during the Second World War. Brazil are the most successful nation with five titles (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002), followed by Germany and Italy on four each. The 2026 edition marks the first co-hosted World Cup by three federations and the first time the United States has hosted since 1994, Mexico's third time as host, and Canada's first.