The first 24 group matches of the 2026 World Cup are done, and the early verdict is simple: this has not been a slow start. After seven days, the first 48-team World Cup has already delivered sharp games, big results and very little of the drag that critics feared.
That is why people are searching now for how long is the World Cup and how far this one has to run. The answer begins with the format: 48 teams, 24 matches in the opening round of group play, and a structure that gives third-placed sides a route forward into the knockout rounds. That means more teams stay alive longer, more matches matter, and the tournament can keep building even when the opening week is still unfolding.
Cyle Larin captured the tone of it best for Canada. He came off the bench and scored two minutes later in a 1-1 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina, a result that gave Canada its first point in a World Cup match against that opponent. Elsewhere, the United States beat Paraguay 4-1, Mexico opened with a 2-0 win over South Africa in Mexico City, Ghana beat Panama 1-0 with a stoppage-time winner, New Zealand and Iran drew 2-2, and Cape Verde held Spain to a 0-0 draw. Switzerland needed Breel Embolo’s penalty to beat Qatar, but even there the game did not resemble the empty, cautious affair many had imagined.
That matters because the build-up to the tournament was full of doubts. A first 48-team World Cup, climate concerns and empty-seat worries all fed the idea that the early rounds might feel bloated or muted. Instead, the opening 24 matches have produced no terrible games. South Africa lost to Mexico while two midfielders were sent off, Czechia briefly led South Korea through Ladislav Krejci before losing, and Qatar took its first World Cup point from Switzerland after Mahmud Abunada made five saves. The football has looked competitive, and the atmosphere has been helped by the simple fact that three host nations are in play at once, spreading the event across the United States, Mexico and Canada and giving the first week a constant sense of movement.
The next test comes quickly. Thursday’s matches in Atlanta, Zapopan, Inglewood and Vancouver will show whether the opening burst was just a lively start or the shape of the tournament to come. Canada will also know that a win against Qatar would almost certainly be enough to send it through to the second round, while Mexico goes into its next game with a one-goal lead in goal differential that could matter later. The first week has already answered one question. It has not answered whether the pace can hold once the knockout rounds begin and the travel grows harder, but it has made one thing plain: the World Cup does not need time to wake up.
