Who will host the 2026 World Cup?
The 2026 World Cup will be joint-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Will USMNT, Canada and Mexico automatically qualify for the 2026 World Cup as hosts?
It is not currently known if multiple host countries will automatically qualify for the World Cup.
When will the 2026 World Cup take place?
The 2026 World Cup is set to take place in the summer of 2026 between June and July, with the exact dates yet to be confirmed.
Overview
The 2026 FIFA World Cup (Spanish: Copa Mundial de la FIFA de 2026; French: Coupe du monde de la FIFA de 2026) will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men's association football (soccer) championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament will be jointly hosted by 16 cities in three North American countrie…
Format
Michel Platini, who was President of UEFA at the time, had suggested in October 2013 an expansion of the tournament to 40 teams, an idea that FIFA president Gianni Infantino also suggested in March 2016. A desire to increase the number of participants in the tournament from the previous 32 team format was announced on October 4, 2016. Four expansion options were considered:
Host selection
The FIFA Council went back and forth between 2013 and 2017 on limitations within hosting rotation based on the continental confederations. Originally, it was set that bids to be host would not be allowed from countries belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding tournaments. It was temporarily changed to only prohibit countries belonging to the confederation that hosted …
Qualification
The 2026 World Cup's qualification process has yet to be decided. The FIFA Council is expected to decide which hosts, if any, will receive automatic qualifications to the tournament. The United Bid personnel anticipated that all three host countries would be awarded automatic places.
On March 30, 2017, the Bureau of the FIFA Council (composed of the FIFA president and the presidents of each of the six confederations) proposed a slot allocation for the 2026 FIFA World …
Candidate cities and venues
During the bidding process, 41 cities with 43 existing, fully functional venues and two venues under construction submitted to be part of the bid (three venues in three cities in Mexico, nine venues in seven cities in Canada and 38 venues in 34 cities in the United States). A first-round elimination cut nine venues and nine cities, then a second-round elimination cut an additional nine venues in six cities while three venues in three cities (Chicago, Minneapolis and Vancouver) dropp…
Criticism of the format and controversies
The European Club Association and its member clubs opposed the proposal for expanding the World Cup, saying that the number of games was already at an "unacceptable" level and they urged the governing body to reconsider its idea of increasing the number of teams that qualify. They contended that it was a decision taken for political reasons because Infantino would thus satisfy his electorate, rather than for sporting reasons. Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (La Li…
External links
• FIFA World Cup 2026, FIFA.com