The 2026 FIFA World Cup will kick off with a record number of participating teams
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the largest in the tournament’s history in terms of the number of participating teams. Forty-eight national teams will compete in the final stage of the competition. Argentina remain the reigning world champions, having won the previous World Cup.
The tournament will be held across three countries. Canada, Mexico and the United States will host the matches. In total, the tournament’s matches will take place in 16 cities.
In Canada, matches will be held in Toronto and Vancouver. In Mexico, the games will be hosted by Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey. In the US, matches will be held in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle.
Following the draw, the teams were divided into 12 groups.
Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Czech Republic.
Group B: Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar, Switzerland.
Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland.
Group D: USA, Paraguay, Australia, Turkey.
Group E: Germany, Curaçao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador.
Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Tunisia.
Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand.
Group H: Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay.
Group I: France, Senegal, Iraq, Norway.
Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan.
Group K: Portugal, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uzbekistan, Colombia.
Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama.
The World Cup final will take place on 19 July in New York, where a new winner of the world’s premier football trophy will be crowned, or Argentina will defend their title.
