FIFA World Cup 2026

The 2026 FIFA World Cup stadiums will be divided into sixteen venues. Get to know them.

MetLife Stadium / HOK Hard Rock Stadium / HOK Gillette Stadium / Populous NRG Stadium / Populous Mercedes-Benz Stadium / HOK Despite the confusion around

Fortunately, soccer fans don't have to wait very long for international soccer to return. The FIFA Women's World Cup is in July 2023, and some of the qualifying ...

In 2026, the World Cup will expand from 32 teams to 48. - Houston — NRG Stadium. - Boston — Gillette Stadium. - Atlanta — Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Fortunately, soccer fans don’t have to wait very long for international soccer to return. FIFA has not yet released the exact dates of the tournament, but it will return to its usual June and July time slot.

No sooner has the four-week action in Qatar 2022 come to an end than fans start to ponder the next one.

[a rollercoaster ride for the last four weeks in Qatar](https://en.as.com/soccer/the-best-of-the-2022-qatar-world-cup-the-outtakes-v/?omnil=vtop-home&pbsvideo=top) as we have witnessed some stunning play, inspirational stories as well as a fair selection of shocks. It will also be the first in which 48 nations participate, 16 more than in Qatar and in the previous seven World Cups, with the expectation that teams will be split into 16 groups of three, with two of those three teams progressing to the round of 32, implying one extra knockout round in comparison to the current format. As it currently stands, teams pick up three points for a win, one for a draw and nothing for a loss. The North American continent will offer its coastal cities with mountainous back drops, as well as the hustle and bustle of places like Atlanta and and New York. Up north across the border Canada will undoubtedly showcase the multicultural melting pot that is Toronto. Fans return their attention to the domestic and continental club competitions, but a thought is thrown in the direction of the next edition.

Despite the decision to hold Qatar 2022 midway through the club season—making it a winter tournament for European teams—the next iteration will revert back to ...

The former changed Argentina's style of play completely, giving them a difficult press to deal with and freeing up Messi to do his thing. Just because we are unlikely to see two of the greatest players of all time in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and generational talents such as Luka Modrić at another World Cup, doesn't mean it's time for sadness. The goal for 2026 has to be to go further at the very least. A great deal of major talent shone in Qatar and is set to play even bigger roles four years from now. One has to wonder if Harry Kane, who will be 33 by the end of the next tournament, will need some stiffer competition in North America. It's also easy to forget Ferrán Torres is only 22 years old and still has many years of improvement ahead of him. Twelve groups of four seem more palatable, but there is likely to be a fair bit of toing and froing as the governing body does what it can to maximise profits from television rights for the competition. It's likely both Spain and England will be looking to 2026 as their opportunity to strike. All knockout games from the quarter-finals on will take place in the U.S., with MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford, New Jersey), SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, California) and AT&T Stadium (Dallas) among the favourites to host the final. While Brazil is always expected to perform, there will certainly need to be an uptick in key areas ahead of 2026. The dressing room influence of Thiago Silva and Dani Alves will be long gone. FIFA initially indicated this would break down into 16 groups of three, a format that was put forward to ensure every country goes for the win in their two confirmed games.

Now that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is over, the focus turns to 2026 and the World Cup's return to North America. What are the logistical challenges that ...

What is the legacy of this World Cup and how are we changing the game? Still, Cone believes if this next World Cup comes and goes and nothing changes, it will be a costly missed opportunity, regardless of the financial constraints. The new model will likely narrow the list of countries able to bid on future World Cups to wealthy nations such as the United States or authoritarian ones such as Russia, China and Saudi Arabia, Rothenberg said. The host cities are going to have the responsibility to operate the event and provide all the public services, and [FIFA is] providing very limited revenue opportunities for the host cities. As a result, the 1994 tournament, still the best-attended World Cup ever, produced a surplus of about $50 million, more than double original projections. And then also participate in the ticket revenue,” Rothenberg said. FIFA has wrested control of much of the marketing and organization of the event away from its local partners, meaning FIFA will reap most of the profits while leaving the costs to local organizers. Qatar had to build seven of the eight stadiums and its Metro system from scratch and spent billions more to upgrade its international airport. As a result, no World Cup will ever again produce the kind of domestic surplus the 1994 U.S. So I took that approach with Qatar, taking a look around and seeing how they’re doing it, comparing it to how I think things may work in the U.S.,” said Cone, who spent 2½ weeks in Qatar during the World Cup. But it’s the differences more than the similarities that stand out when comparing the 2022 World Cup with the 2026 tournament. It was great theater, a bare-knuckle brawl that played out over 120 minutes and four rounds of penalty kicks before Argentina was declared the victor after a game that ended in a 3-3 draw.