FIFA World Cup 2026: Dates, Schedule and Venue:
Despite being more than three years away, the FIFA World Cup 2026 has already captured the attention of the football world. The eagerly awaited competition, which will take place in North America, will be in its 23rd iteration.
The United States, Canada, and Mexico will all serve as co-hosts of the FIFA World Cup in 2026. Three nations will split the hosting duties for the men’s World Cup of football for the first time. The FIFA World Cup has only ever been co-hosted by two nations once before, in 2002 between Japan and South Korea.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will also mark history since 48 teams, as opposed to 32, will compete for the first time. Grow and improve.
The sport will resume during the customary months of June and July with the 2026 World Cup. The governing organisation has not yet revealed the whole World Cup dates, but the final’s date has been revealed. The World Cup’s final date is July 19, according to FIFA.
Location:
The US, Canada, and Mexico will all host matches at the 2026 World Cup. The majority of the tournament’s matches will be held in the United States. Starting with the quarterfinals, all knockout stage matches will take place in the US.
The next FIFA World Cup will be held in 16 cities overall. 11 of those 16 cities—Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami, Boston, and New York—are located in the United States.
On the other hand, Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Mexico City will serve as the venues for the matches. The games will take place in Vancouver and Toronto in Canada.
List of World Cup 2026 Cities:
| seattle |
| san francisco |
| los angeles |
| Dallas |
| Houston |
| Kansas City |
| Philadelphia |
| atlanta |
| miami |
| boston |
| New York |
| monterrey |
| Guadalajara |
| Mexico City |
| vancouver |
| toronto |
Here is the list of World Cup 2026 stadiums:
| America |
| Atlanta – Mercedes-Benz Stadium |
| Boston – Gillette Stadium |
| Dallas – AT&T Stadium |
| Houston – NRG Stadium |
| Kansas City – Arrowhead Stadium |
| Los Angeles – SoFi Stadium |
| Miami – Hard Rock Stadium |
| New York/New Jersey – MetLife Stadium |
| Philadelphia – Lincoln Financial District |
| San Francisco – Levi’s Stadium |
| Seattle – Lumen Field |
| Canada |
| Toronto – BMO Field |
| Vancouver – BC Place |
| Mexico |
| Guadalajara – Estadio AcronMexico City – Estadio Azteca |
| Monterrey – Estadio BBVA |
World Cup 2026 Final Stadium:
Although it has been announced that the United States will host the 2026 World Cup final, the location has not yet been decided. In the past, the USA hosted the competition in 1994, with the championship game taking place at Los Angeles’ illustrious Rose Bowl.
The stadium, however, is not listed among the venues. It was covered by the Sophia Stadium, and it might serve as the World Cup’s final venue in 2026. The stadium, which opened in 2020 and has a capacity of 70,240, is a modern marvel.
Other stadiums that might be in the running for the crucial game include Texas’ AT&T Stadium and New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.
FIFA World Cup 2026 Format:
The 2026 World Cup will have a new format. Instead of 32 teams, a total of 48 teams will compete in the upcoming World Cup.
For the group stage, the 48 teams will be split into 12 groups of four. The Round of 32 is then reached by the top two teams from each group as well as the eight best third-place teams. Teams would have to play eight games from the group stage to the final due to the new structure, as opposed to seven.
Each team will still play three games in the group stage, despite the altered structure. The round of 32 is the sole modification to this format. The anticipated path to the final will now include one more encounter.
FIFA World Cup 2026: Qualification:
So far, only three teams have qualified for the next World Cup – Canada, Mexico and the United States earned automatic qualification as co-hosts. The remaining 45 slots will be filled by the nations of UEFA, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, AFC (Asian Football Confederation), OFC (Oceania Football Confederation) and CAF (Confederation of African Football).
The number of teams that qualified from each confederation are as follows:
| confederation | number of qualifiers |
| afc | 8 |
| caf | 9 |
| CONCACAF | 6 |
| CONMEBOL | 6 |
| ofc | 1 |
| UEFA | 16 |
The allotment listed above applies to 46 of the 48 competing teams. A play-off competition will determine the final two positions. The competition will feature six teams in total. With the exception of UEFA, there will be one team from each confederation, one more team from the confederation of host nations, and two teams seeded according to the FIFA World Rankings.
(The governing body is yet to reveal the logo and mascot for the 2026 World Cup.)
Here is the price of World Cup tickets for the previous edition:
Opening Match: $54.85-$301.68
group play: $10.97-$219.40
Round of 16: $19.20-$274.26
quarter finals: $82.28-$425.10
Semifinals: $137.13-$954.41
Third place match: $82.28-$425.10
Talking about the cost of tickets for the World Cup final, a class 4 ticket cost $205.69, while the cheapest ticket for a non-Qatari resident was $603.36. On the other hand, each ticket in class 1 costs $1,604.39.