The 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the USA is looming. Which nations qualify? How does the new game mode work with 48 teams for the first time? In which stadiums is the game played? sport.de has compiled the most important information about the mega event.
Football World Cup 2026: This is the new game mode
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar was the last time the game was played in the tried-and-tested format with 32 participants, who initially competed against each other in eight groups of four in the group phase.
For the 2026 FIFA World Cup, as the World Cup tournament is officially called, the world football association has now come up with a new mode with significantly more teams.
After various options were discussed both internally at FIFA and publicly, the decision finally came to fruition following mode through:
- The 48 participants are initially divided into twelve groups of four. All teams in a group play against each other once.
- The first and second place teams in each group qualify for the knockout phase. In addition, the eight best third-place teams in the group also move on to the next round.
- After the group phase, the first knockout game is the round of 16. It then continues as usual in the round of 16, quarter and semi-finals before the World Cup final is scheduled for July 19, 2026.
Football World Cup 2026: Who is qualified?
The XXL tournament in June and July 2026 featured the teams from Mexico, Canada and the USA as hosting countries as World Cup participants. The following have qualified through sport so far:
Asia (8): Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Jordan, South Korea, Australia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Oceania (1): New Zealand
Europe (12): England, France, Croatia, Portugal, Norway, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, Austria, Scotland
North and Central America (3): Curaçao, Haiti, Panama
South America (6): Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Colombia
Africa (9): Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Senegal
This means that 42 of the 48 World Cup participants have already been confirmed. The others will be determined in playoff rounds.
The group draw took place at the beginning of December and resulted in the following groups:
Group A: Mexico, South Africa, Republic of Korea and Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland, Denmark or North Macedonia
Group B: Canada, Qatar, Switzerland as well as Wales, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy or Northern Ireland
Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland
Group D: USA, Paraguay, Australia, as well as Slovakia, Kosovo, Türkiye or Romania
Group E: GermanyCuraçao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador
Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia as well as Ukraine, Sweden, Poland or Albania
Group G: Belgium, Egypt, IR Iran, New Zealand
Group H: Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay
Group I: France, Senegal, Norway as well as Iraq, Bolivia or Suriname
Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan
Group K: Portugal, Colombia, Uzbekistan as well as DR Congo, Jamaica or New Caledonia
Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama
Football World Cup 2026: Where will it be played?
Not only the number of participants, but also the number of venues will set new standards for the 2026 World Cup. A total of 16 different stadiums will be played, from Vancouver in Canada to Mexico City. Here is an overview of all the World Cup venues:
Canada
- Toronto: BMO Field, 45,000 spectators
- Vancouver: BC Place Stadium, 54,000 spectators
USA
- Arlington: AT&T Stadium, 94,000 spectators
- Atlanta: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, 75,000 spectators
- East Rutherford: MeLife Stadium, 82,500 spectators
- Foxborough: Gillette Stadium, 65,000 spectators
- Houston: NRG Stadium, 72,000 spectators
- Inglewood: SoFi Stadium, 70,000 spectators
- Kansas City: Arrowhead Stadium, 73,000 spectators
- Miami Gardens: Hard Rock Stadium, 65,000 spectators
- Philadelphia: Lincon Financial Field, 69,000 spectators
- Santa Clara: Levi’s Stadium, 71,000 spectators
- Seattle: Lumen Field, 69,000 spectators
Mexico
- Guadalupe: Estadio BBVA, 53,000 spectators
- Mexico City: Aktekenstadion, 83,000 spectators
- Zapopan: Estadio Akron, 48,000 spectators
Football World Cup 2026: numbers and facts
- The 2026 FIFA World Cup is the 23rd World Cup in the history of football. The USA is hosting a World Cup for the second time since 1994, and Mexico is hosting a World Cup for the third time after 1970 and 1986. However, World Cup games will be played on Canadian soil for the first time in 2026.
- The World Cup has taken place every four years since 1930 instead of. So far there have only been two exceptions to this rule: Because of the Second World War and its consequences, no World Cup tournaments were held in 1942 and 1946.
- Uruguay became the first world champion in 1930who also hosted the tournament at the same time.
- Officiating Argentina is the defending champion.
- The record world champion is Brazil with five titles (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002).
- Germany been able to do so far in its history four times world champion become (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014)
- Other previous title holders are: Italy (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), Argentina (1978, 1986, 2022), France (1998, 2018), Uruguay (1930, 1950), England (1966) and Spain (2010)
Football World Cup 2026: The favorites
The usual suspects are once again traded among the top favorites.
As the reigning world champions, the Argentine national team is of course one of the hot contenders for the final on July 19th. Arch-rival and record world champion Brazil is also expected to play a strong role from South America.
A handful of football nations from Europe are preparing to finally win the golden cup again. In addition to the reigning European champions Spain and the two-time world champions France, England, with its German coach Thomas Tuchel, is also one of the favorites.
The German selection, the individually very strong Portuguese as well as the Netherlands and Italy are also expected to play a strong role in the 2026 World Cup.
Football World Cup 2026: TV broadcast
The 2026 World Cup will also be shown on TV on ARD and ZDF. The two public broadcasters have acquired corresponding sublicenses from Telekom.
ARD and ZDF are showing 60 of the 104 games live, including the games of the German team.
All 104 games of the XXL World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico (June 11 to July 19) will only be broadcast in Germany by Telekom, which bought the exclusive rights from the world association FIFA in May. As with the home European Championships in 2024, ARD and ZDF have now acquired sublicenses from Telekom.
If you really want to see all of the tournament’s games live, you need a subscription to the pay TV offer MagentaTV.
Football World Cup 2026: Tickets
In the first pre-sale phase, more than four and a half million fans from 216 countries applied for tickets for the 2026 World Cup.
During the ten-day application phase, most inquiries came from the three host countries USA, Canada and Mexico, followed by Germany in fourth place, and England, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Spain and Italy complete the top 10.
The registration phase for the early ticket draw started on October 27th, with sales increasing between mid-November and early December. Phase three began after the group draw. Fans can then also apply for fixed duels.
Football World Cup 2026: Entry into the USA, Canada and Mexico
At the last World Cup in Qatar you could enter freely with a valid ticket. In the USA, German fans also have to apply for a visa. You can fill out the application online. Information is available on the US Embassy website.
A similar procedure is necessary to enter Canada. If you want to follow the World Cup in Mexico, a valid passport and a tourist card are sufficient. This can also be issued upon entry.
Football World Cup 2026: Travel within the World Cup countries
Due to the large distances between the venues, there is no getting around the plane. However, there are enough low-cost airlines in the USA.
The hotels at the venues will probably be quite expensive. One option is to use World Cup packages from travel providers: These are quite expensive, but you can easily book an entire World Cup tour here.