World Cup 2026: Every key question answered about this summer's tournament in USA, Canada and Mexico

08.06.2026, 19:57 skysports.com

The wait is over. The World Cup is officially here! 48 teams, 48 key questions answered (yes, really!) to get you clued up for this summer's fiesta of football. It's going to be fun.

The World Cup officially gets under way on Thursday, June 11 when Mexico face South Africa at 8pm BST, with an opening ceremony (more on that later) starting 90 minutes before the big kick-off.

The final will take place on Sunday July 19 in New Jersey, kick-off 8pm BST.

For the full match schedule, look no further than our day-by-day fixture breakdown...

The 2026 World Cup will be hosted across three countries for the first time - USA, Mexico and Canada.

The USA previously hosted the tournament in 1994, while Mexico was the host nation in 1970 and 1986. Canada has never previously hosted the World Cup.

There are 16 stadiums hosting matches during the tournament - 11 in the US, two in Canada and three in Mexico.

Everything you need to know on WC 2026

World Cup match schedule

This World Cup is the first to include 48 teams, an expansion from 32 previously - and you can find the full list here.

Sweden, Turkey, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Iraq and DR Congo all qualified through play-offs.

Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Spain and England are among the big hitters - but there's no Italy, Serbia, Greece or Hungary from Europe. Nigeria and Cameroon - African nations with World Cup pedigree miss out, while there's no place for global powers China and India.

FIFA indefinitely suspended Russia in February 2022 due to the country's invasion of Ukraine.

In total, there are four debuting nations at this year's World Cup. Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan and Uzbekistan have all qualified for the very first time.

It is the highest number of newcomers in a single tournament since six countries made their debuts during the 2006 World Cup. Interestingly, only two of those countries are represented two decades later - Ivory Coast and Ghana.

The World Cup previously featured eight groups of four teams. Each team would play the other teams in their group once, with the best two in each group progressing to the last 16.

The addition of 16 more sides means the 2026 tournament will have 12 groups of four. Again, each team plays the other teams in their group once. The best two sides - plus the eight best-ranked third-placed sides from the 12 groups - progress to the last 32, meaning there is an extra knockout round.

For a UK audience, matches kick off anywhere between 5pm and 5am. England's group matches against Croatia (June 17) and Ghana (June 23) will be at 9pm, while they play Panama (June 27) at 10pm.

Scotland play Haiti (June 14) at - ouch - 2am, Morocco (June 19) at 11pm and Brazil (June 24) at 11pm.

Are you pulling an all-nighter, setting your alarm or catching up in the morning?!

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The largest capacity stadium will be AT&T Stadium (known as Dallas Stadium due to FIFA's rules on stadium sponsorship) which seats 94,000 people and is usually home to NFL's Dallas Cowboys.

The smallest stadium is Toronto Stadium (BMO Field) which seats 45,000. Fun fact: the Aztec Stadium in Mexico City is set to become the first venue ever to host games at three different men's World Cups (2026, 1986 and 1970).

No - FIFA dictate matches must be played on grass. This means eight of the stadiums have had to lay temporary grass pitches.

The temporary grass surfaces were heavily criticised at the 2025 Club World Cup in the US last summer. FIFA says those issues will be fixed this summer.

According to Sky Bet, France and Spain are the joint favourites at 9/2. Thomas Tuchel’s England follow at 13/2, with Brazil next at 8/1.

Defending champions Argentina and Portugal both go into the tournament with odds of 10/1.

Despite having struggled to convince anyone pre-tournament, the United States may hope that being a host nation could work in their favour. In the previous 22 World Cups, the host nation has failed to progress to the knockouts just three times. On 18 occasions, they have managed to reach at least the quarter-finals.

That could also work in Mexico and Canada’s favour, while other dark horses to watch out for are Erling Haaland’s Norway, 2022 semi-finalists Morocco and Japan, who scored 54 goals in 16 qualification games, conceding just three.

According to Opta, Haiti, Cape Verde, Curacao, Saudi Arabia and Iraq have a fewer than 0.1 per cent chance of winning the tournament.

Sky Bet have Egypt, South Korea, Algeria, Czech Republic, Ghana, Uzbekistan, Tunisia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Panama, New Zealand, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Haiti, DR Congo, Curacao, Cape Verde and Australia as 500/1 shots to win the tournament.

With this being the first-ever 48-team tournament, the 16 extra nations means less chance of a 'Group of Death'.

However, Group I at this summer's World Cup does look pretty tasty, containing the likes of two-time champions France, 2021 AFCON champions Senegal, Norway, and with Man City striker Erling Haaland and Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard among their ranks and Iraq, ranked 57th in the world.

At 66/1, United States have been given the best odds of winning the entire competition by Sky Bet. Mexico follow at 80/1, while Canada sit at 150/1.Mexico will be buoyed by the fact that they beat the United States in the final of the 2025 Gold Cup, so they may be the ones heading into the tournament with greater momentum.

Soccer is more popular than you would think. The average attendance for the Club World Cup in the US last summer was more than 40,000 per match.

The World Cup is not going to take over the US like it does other countries, but more than enough Americans will be interested. Soccer will never be as big as the traditional American sports but the big European clubs and the superstar players are a big draw.

American investment into English and European football has soared in the last two decades.

There had been doubts about Iran's participation in the tournament due to the current war in the Middle East.

FIFA has since confirmed Iran's training base will be at Centro Xoloitzcuintle in Tijuana, Mexico.

The players have been awarded visas into the United States, but they are currently only allowed to enter and leave the country on the day of their games. Other members of their support staff are yet to be awarded visas.

Sky Bet have Kylian Mbappe as the favourite to claim a second consecutive golden boot, with the Frenchman valued at 11/2. England captain Harry Kane is the second favourite at 13/2.Other notable names include Erling Haaland at 12/1, Lionel Messi at 14/1, Lamine Yamal at 16/1, Cristiano Ronaldo at 18/1, and both Vinicius Junior and Ousmane Dembele at 22/1.

Despite both players entering their sixth World Cups, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are yet to face off. However, should both Argentina and Portugal win their respective groups, the pair will be on course to meet in the quarter-finals, provided they make it through their Round of 32 and 16 games.If both teams finished second, then it creates a scenario where they would meet earlier in the round of 16. However, if one team tops their group and the other finishes second, they would only be able to compete against each other in the final.

We're clear on this answer: Japan (away).

The retro Adidas Trefoil. The simple black-trimmed collar. The pop of multicolour pinstripe on a clean white canvas.

Elegantly, gorgeously minimalist.

Think differently? We've rounded all the World Cup kits so you can choose your favourite...

There have been some famous World Cup balls throughout the years. The Teamgeist in 2006 and Jabulani in 2010 spring to mind as some of Adidas' most iconic creations.

This year, we have the TRIONDA, which is Spanish for 'three waves.' The colours of red, blue and green pay homage to the host countries. Pretty smart.

Researchers have warned that 14 of the 16 venues throughout the tournament will reach dangerous conditions, one of which will be England's base in Kansas.

And, according to new research by Climate Central, who examined the odds of temperatures exceeding 28C - a threshold linked to declines in player performance - 97 of the 104 matches face a higher probability of encountering performance-impairing conditions.

Just three stadiums possess air conditioning capabilities: AT&T Stadium in Dallas, NRG Stadium in Houston and Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

England's opener against Croatia is at the AT&T Stadium, but neither of their remaining two group games will take place in any of these three, nor will any of Scotland's.

There is certainly a chance that could be the case - just look at Chelsea vs Benfica in the last-16 of last summer's Club World Cup.

The Blues were leading 1-0 when, in the 86th minute of the match, play was suspended due to lightning in the vicinity of the stadium. After a two-hour delay, Angel Di Maria's penalty took the tie to extra-time, extending the tie further, before Chelsea eventually won 4-1.

In all, six matches were disrupted by weather conditions in that tournament.

Bad news for anyone who has a gripe with VAR - we're getting even more of it at the World Cup. Apologies to those of you affected by this difficult news!

VAR will now also be able to rule on incorrectly awarded second yellow cards and corners, cases of mistaken identity and offences before a set-piece is taken.

Teams are allowed to make a maximum of five substitutions per match, with a sixth substitution permitted if the game goes into extra-time.

Teams are allowed a maximum of three windows, plus half-time, to make these five changes. Additionally, players must exit the pitch within 10 seconds of being substituted or their replacement must wait on the sidelines for one minute.

Players must serve a one-game ban if they are shown a yellow card in two different games.

However, once the group stage is complete, players' disciplinary records will be wiped and start afresh. The same will occur after the