2026 Fifa World Cup Opens June 11 Across Three Countries
The 2026 FIFA World Cup opens on 11 June 2026 and will be staged across the United States, Canada and Mexico, making it the first edition hosted by three countries. The tournament runs 39 days, ends on 19 July, and spreads 104 matches across 16 cities.
Mexico City Opens the Tournament
The first match is set for Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, while the final will be played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Each team will play its matches in one regional cluster, a format built around three clusters across North America.
The field has grown from 32 teams to 48, with 12 groups of four. The top two in each group advance directly, and eight of the best third-place teams will also move on, creating a new round of 16 before the knockout stage tightens.
Spain Leads the Field
Opta rated Spain as the leading favorite with more than 16% chance of winning the title. France followed at 13%, England at 11.2%, Argentina at 10.4%, Portugal at 7%, Brazil at 6.6%, Germany at 5.1% and the Netherlands at 3.6%.
Spain arrive after winning Euro 2024 and going through qualifying with a 6-0 win over Turkey, 4-0 wins against Bulgaria and Georgia, and a 3-0 friendly win over Serbia before beating Peru 3-1. Luis de la Fuente has Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Gavi, Nico Williams and Ferran Torres in the squad picture as the tournament begins to take shape.
Debuts and Absences
Uzbekistan, Jordan, Cabo Verde and Curaçao will make their World Cup debuts, while Poland, Denmark, Wales, Serbia, Cameroon and Nigeria did not qualify. Italy will miss the World Cup for the third consecutive time, and Ukraine exited in the playoff round after a 1-3 loss to Sweden.
Russia did not take part in qualifying because it is suspended from FIFA and UEFA tournaments after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. That leaves the 48-team field with a wider spread of debutants and a different balance across regions as the expanded format opens more places at the tournament.
