FIFA World Cup 2026 JUNE 11 - JULY 19 The United States, Mexico and Canada host the 23rd FIFA World Cup – the first tournament to be jointly staged by three nations and expanded to 48 teams – amid rising global tensions SPORTING ECONOMY: Total prize fund for global showpiece is poised to rise substantially from Qatar 2022, despite fierce criticism of ticket prices across North America 2014 2018 2022 2026 $358m $400m $440m $871m Champions share: $35 $38 $42m $50m 2026 breakdown: Each qualified team will receive baseline of $2.5m to cover preparation costs Champions $50m 5th-8th $19m Final $33m 9th-16th $15m 3rd place $29m 17th-32nd $11m 4th place $27m 33rd-48th $10m COMPETITIVE EDGE: Expansion to 48-team format poses intriguing challenge to traditional powerhouses Performances of confederations: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Top 8 Top 16 Europe 12 17 18 15 105 99 South America 10 5 3 5 36 37 North America 1 5 15 Africa 1 4 11 Asia 1 2 9 Oceania 1 Tournament 1 expanded to 1 24 teams in 1982, increasing to 32 in 1998 --------------------------------------------------------- Venues Vinícius Júnior Brazil Aiming to inspire Seleção to first title since 2002, under supremo Carlo Ancelotti (inset) CANADA: WORLD CUP RECORD W0 D0 L6 Vancouver BC Place, Capacity: 54,000 Seattle Lumen Field, 69,000 San Francisco Bay Area Levi’s Stadium, 71,000 Los Angeles SoFi Stadium, 70,000 Guadalajara Estadio Akron, 48,000 Mexico City Estadio Banorte, 83,000 Formerly Estadio Azteca Kansas City GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, 73,000 Dallas AT&T Stadium, 94,000 Toronto BMO Field, 45,000 Boston Gillette Stadium, 65,000 New York/ New Jersey MetLife Stadium, 82,500 Philadelphia Lincoln Financial Field, 69,000 Atlanta Mercedes-Benz Stadium, 75,000 Houston NRG Stadium, 72,000 Monterrey Estadio L28 BBVA, 53,50 W17 D15 L28 MEXICO adidas Trionda 2026 Official World Cup match ball Return of the Vikings: Erling Haaland (right) topped scoring charts in qualifying, striking 16 goals as Norway reached first World Cup since 1998 Lamine Yamal Spain Barcelona star set for World Cup debut ---------------------------------------------------------- Competition schedule Top two from each group plus eight best third-placed teams advance A Jun 15 60 25 41 Mexico South Africa Mexico City South Korea Czechia Guadalajara Czechia South Africa Atlanta Mexico South Korea Guadalajara Czechia Mexico Mexico City South Africa S. Korea Monterrey Qualified B Jun 30 65 55 19 12 Canada Bosnia-Herz. Toronto 13 Qatar Switz. San Francisco 18 Switzerland Bosnia-H. Los Angeles Canada Qatar Vancouver 24 Switzerland Canada Vancouver Bosnia-Herz. Qatar Seattle Q C Jun 6 8 83 43 13 Brazil Morocco NY/NJ Haiti Scotland Boston 19 Schotland Morocco Boston Brazil Haiti Philadelphia 24 Schotland Brazil Miami Morocco Haiti Atlanta Q D Jun 16 40 27 22 12 USA Paraguay Los Angeles 14 Australia Türkiye Vancouver 19 USA Australia Seattle Türkiye Paraguay San Francisco 25 Türkiye USA Los Angeles Paraguay Australia San Francisco Q E 10 82 34 23 14 Germany Curaçao Houston Côte d’Ivoire Ecuador Philadelphia 20 Germany Côte d’Ivoire Toronto Ecuador Curaçao Kansas City 25 Curaçao Côte d’Ivoire Philadelphia Ecuador Germany NY / NJ Qualified F 7 18 38 44 14 Netherlands Japan Sweden Tunisia 20 Netherlands Sweden 21 Tunisia Japan 25 Japan Sweden Tunisia Netherlands G 9 29 21 85 15 Belgium Egypt Seattle Iran N. Zealand Los Angeles 21 Belgium Iran Los Angeles New Zealand Egypt Vancouver 26 Egypt Iran Seattle New Zealand Belgium Vancouver H 2 69 61 17 15 Spain Cabo Verde Atlanta Saudi Arabia Uruguay Miami 21 Spain Saudi Arabia Atlanta Uruguay Cabo Verde Miami 28 Cabo Verde S. Arabia Houston Uruguay Spain Guadalajara Q I 1 14 57 31 16 France Senegal NY/NJ Iraq Norway Boston 22 France Iraq Philadelphia Norway Senegal NY/NJ 26 Norway France Boston Senegal Iraq Toronto Qualified J 3 28 24 63 16 Argentina Algeria Kansas City 17 Austria Jordan San Francisco 22 Argentina Austria Dallas Jordan Algeria San Francisco 27 Algeria Austria Kansas City Jordan Argentina Dallas Q K 5 46 50 13 17 Portugal DR congo Houston Uzbekistan Colombia Mexico City 23 Portugal Uzbekistan Houston Colombia DR Congo Guadalajara 27 Colombia Portugal Miami DR Congo Uzbekistan Atlanta Q L 4 11 74 33 17 England Croatia Dallas Ghana Panama Toronto 23 England Ghana Boston Panama Croatia Toronto 27 Panama England NY/NJ Croatia Ghana Philadelphia Q --------------------------------------- Round of 32 Pairings for third-placed teams dependent on which group they qualify from If scores level after 90 minutes, knockout stage matches go into extra-time. Matches remaining level decided on penalties 1 28 A2 B2 Los Angeles 2 29 E1 A-B-C-D-F3 Boston 3 29 F1 C2 Monterrey 4 29 C1 F2 Houston 5 30 I1 C-D-F-G-H3 NY/NJ 6 30 E2 I2 Dallas 7 30 A1 C-E-F-H-I3 Mexico City 8 1 L1 E-H-I-J-K3 Atlanta 9 1 D1 B-EF-I-J3 S.Francisco 10 1 G1 A-E-H-I-J3 Seattle 11 2 K2 L2 Toronto 12 2 H1 J2 Los Angeles 13 2 B1 E-F-G-I-J3 Vancouver 14 3 J1 H2 Miami 15 3 K1 D-E-I-J-L3 Kansas City 16 3 D2 G2 Dallas Round of 16 Jul Philadelphia 4 W2 W5 4 W1 Houston W3 6 W11 Dallas W12 Settle 6 W9 W10 Quarter-finals Jul 9 Boston Jul 10 Los Angeles Semi-final Jul15 Dallas Third-place play-off Jul 18 Miami Final Jul 19 New York / New Jersey Semi-final Jul 15 Atlanta Quarter-finals Jul 11 Miami Jul 11 Kansas City Round of 16 Jul NewYork/NewJersey 5 W4 W6 Mexico city 5 W7 W8 Atlanta 7 W14 W16 Vancouver 7 W13 W15 -------------------- MetLife Stadium hosts final showpiece. Opened in 2010 at cost of $1.6bn – staged 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final Tournament spans four time zones, with 3,900km between Vancouver and Mexico City – first venue to host three editions Source: FIFA Pictures: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS