Watch all 104 games of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ LIVE, FREE and EXCLUSIVE on SBS, SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand.
12 months on from the FIFA World Cup 2022™ in Qatar, attention has fully shifted to the next edition of football’s most prestigious tournament in North America, which is set to completely shake up the event.
The 2026 World Cup will be the biggest in history - with the tournament adding 16 more nations, going from 32 qualified countries to 48, as well as being the first hosted by more than one country in over two decades.
This expansion is the biggest the World Cup has ever had, and will mean 40 more matches as the event goes from 64 to 104 games on the road to crowning a winner.
When is the FIFA World Cup 2026™?
The FIFA World Cup 2026™ will return to the tournament's traditional mid-year schedule running from mid-June 2026 to July, 19 2026.
The official date of the first match is yet to be announced by FIFA, however the date of the final will be on Sunday, July 19 (Monday morning, July 20 AEDT).
It is expected to be the longest-ever World Cup - running for approximately 39 days.
Where will the games be played?
The FIFA World Cup 2026™ will feature 16 venues spread across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Of the 16 venues, 11 are in the United States, three in Mexico and two in Canada.
Only Mexico’s Estadio Azteca has previously hosted a World Cup fixture, with none of the stadiums which featured in the FIFA World Cup 1994™ in the USA being used this time around.
Atlanta, USA – Mercedes-Benz Stadium (75,000)
Boston, USA – Gillette Stadium (70,000)
Dallas, USA – AT&T Stadium (92,967)
Houston, USA – NRG Stadium (72,220)
Kansas City, USA – Arrowhead Stadium (76,640)
Los Angeles, USA – SoFi Stadium (70, 240)
Miami, USA – Hard Rock Stadium (67,518)
New York/New Jersey, USA – MetLife Stadium (87,157)
Philadelphia, USA – Lincoln Financial Field (69,328)
San Francisco, USA – Levi’s Stadium (70,909)
Seattle, USA – Lumen Field (69,00)
Toronto, Canada – BMO Field (45,736)
Vancouver, Canada – BC Place (54,500)
Guadalajara, Mexico – Estadio Akron (48, 071)
Mexico City, Mexico – Estadio Azteca (87,523)
Monterrey, Mexico – Estadio BBVA (53, 460)
The venues for the opening game and final have yet to be announced.
How will the group stage work?
The expansion to 48 nations means an end to the 32-team format which previously saw eight groups of four teams battling to be the top two in their group and secure a place in the knockout round of 16 teams.
In 2026, the four-team groups will continue but with 12 groups of four teams instead.
Each team will play the three other countries in their group - with the top two teams automatically securing a place in the knockout round of 32.
However, for the first time, the eight-best third-placed teams will also win a spot in the knockout rounds of the tournament making up the 32 nations.
From the new round of 32, the tournament becomes a single-game knockout format - with the winner moving on to the next round and the loser eliminated.
The final is scheduled to take place on Sunday, July 19 (Monday morning, July 20 AEDT) wrapping up what is expected to be the longest World Cup tournament in history at an expected 39 days.
Who gets the extra qualification spots at the FIFA World Cup 2026™?
A total of 46 nations will gain automatic qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2026™, with a further two places decided via intercontinental play-offs.
There will be 17 extra qualifying places compared to 2022 – 16 additional slots as well as the previous 1 place for the hosts which is no longer reserved separately and goes into the qualifying pot.
For example, in 2022 - Asia had five qualification slots for the World Cup, four automatic places plus Qatar as host. This time around, there are no extra spots for the three host nations, which will instead come out of CONCACAF’s allocation.
This is how the qualification slots are allocated.
• Asia: 8 (+4)
• Africa: 9 (+4)
• North, Central America and Caribbean: 6 (+3)
• Europe: 16 (+3)
• South America: 6 (+2)
• Oceania: 1 (+1)
While CONCACAF is due to receive six automatic qualifying places, only three will be up for grabs for the 2026 edition.
This is because United States, Mexico and Canada's automatic spots will be deducted from the six places allocated to CONCACAF. Therefore, CONCACAF's number of qualifying route places is reduced to three (same as 2022).
Also for the first time ever, Oceania will get an automatic qualification slot instead of being forced to go through the intercontinental play-off route.
For the intercontinental playoffs, a total of six countries - one from each of the five confederations aside from Europe, plus an additional one from CONCACAF as host confederation, will take part.
When does qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ start?
Qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ has already begun with CONMEBOL (South America) the first to begin in September, closely followed by the AFC (Asia) which kick-started qualifying last month.
CAF (Africa) qualification is scheduled to get underway this month, while CONCACAF (North, Central American and Caribbean nations), as well as OFC (Oceania) qualifiers will begin in March and September of 2024 respectively.
UEFA (Europe) will be the last to begin qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ when they start in March 2025.
How to watch the games?
All 104 matches of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ in the USA, Canada and Mexico will be broadcast live, free and exclusive on SBS Australia across SBS, SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand.
