The 2026 FIFA World Cup begins Thursday June 11 in Mexico City, and it is the largest sporting event ever staged. Forty-eight nations, 16 host cities across three countries, 104 matches, 39 days and one final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19.
The tournament that started as a 13-team competition in 1930 in Uruguay arrives in North America as the most expansive version of itself that has ever existed, with more teams, more games, more cities and more stories than any World Cup in history.
Mexico hosts the opening match. The United States and Canada get their first games the day after. Lionel Messi will almost certainly play his final World Cup at 39 years old, defending the championship he finally won in Qatar four years ago.
The defending champions are ranked second in the world. The team ranked first is Spain. France is third. England is fourth. Brazil is hunting its sixth title. Germany is back. The 2026 World Cup is not a second-tier lineup.
Here is what you need to know, where the games are and how to watch every minute of it.
The Format That Is New This Time
Every World Cup from 1998 through 2022 featured 32 teams in 8 groups of 4. The 2026 World Cup features 48 teams in 12 groups of 4, 16 more nations than any prior tournament, participating in 104 matches instead of the 64 that previous 32-team editions produced.
This is the first edition of the World Cup with this expanded format, and it is the one that will define what the tournament looks and feels like going forward.
The 12 groups produce 32 teams advancing to the knockout rounds, the top two finishers in each group plus the eight best third-place finishers from across the 12 groups.
Those 32 teams enter a Round of 32 beginning June 28, which produces a Round of 16 on July 4 through 7, quarterfinals July 9 through 11, semifinals July 14 and 15 and the final July 19.
FIFA has also introduced a specific structural feature for 2026 to prevent the two highest-ranked teams from meeting before the final: Spain and Argentina, ranked first and second, were placed in separate bracket pathways so they can only meet in the championship match if both win their sides of the draw.
The Opening Day And The Opening Week
Thursday June 11 opens with Mexico vs South Africa at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City at 3 PM Eastern, the same stadium where two of the most famous World Cup moments in history occurred, Diego Maradona's Hand of God goal and his solo goal against England in 1986.
Mexico is playing its opening World Cup match at home, in the most iconic soccer stadium in the Americas, against a South Africa side that will be attempting the first major upset of the tournament. The opening match airs on FOX and streams free on Tubi.
Thursday night brings South Korea vs Czechia at Estadio Akron in Guadalajara at 10 PM Eastern on FS1.
Friday June 12 delivers two massive games. Canada opens against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto at 3 PM Eastern, Canada playing their second-ever World Cup on home soil, having made their Qatar 2022 return after a 36-year absence.
Friday night at 9 PM Eastern at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, the United States plays Paraguay, and that game also streams free on Tubi, making it one of the most accessible sporting broadcasts of the year for American audiences.
Saturday June 13 brings Brazil vs Morocco at MetLife Stadium at 6 PM Eastern, two of the more intriguing teams of the tournament meeting in New Jersey in the stadium that will host the final, and France vs a FIFA playoff qualifier at 5 PM Eastern in Philadelphia on June 22.
The Americans And What To Expect
Mauricio Pochettino coaches the United States in his first World Cup as the team's manager, having taken over the program in 2024 after Gregg Berhalter's departure following the Copa América disappointment. Pochettino's Premier League track record, building Tottenham into Champions League regulars, guiding Chelsea through a difficult transition period, gave the US Soccer Federation the tactical credibility it believed it needed heading into a home World Cup with genuine expectations.
The American roster features Christian Pulisic, who remains the team's most recognizable and most dangerous attacking threat, operating at the peak of his career at 27. Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams anchor the midfield.
Gio Reyna, finally healthy, is the player with the highest ceiling on the squad, a natural No. 10 who in his best moments is among the most technically gifted American players of his generation. Matt Turner is in goal.
The group is manageable. Paraguay, Australia and a fourth opponent give the United States a realistic path to the Round of 32.
The question the entire tournament will answer is whether Pochettino has built something capable of advancing deep into a knockout bracket, whether this American team, playing at home in front of the biggest soccer crowds the country has ever generated, can make the kind of run that converts a nation of sports fans into soccer fans.
The Players The World Is Watching
Lionel Messi will be 39 years old when the tournament begins. He won the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, in what everyone involved understood was likely his final attempt at the one major trophy that had eluded him for his entire career.
He won it, in the most dramatic final in World Cup history, a 3-3 draw with France settled on penalties. Now he returns to defend it, four years older, playing in MLS for Inter Miami, still capable of individual brilliance but a different physical proposition than the player who carried Argentina through decades of near-misses.
His final World Cup, if this is it, will include a game at AT&T Stadium in Dallas on June 22 against Austria and matches across cities that have not experienced elite international soccer at this scale before.
Kylian Mbappé carries France with the most explosive combination of speed and skill in the tournament. Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane carry England, Pedri and Lamine Yamal carry Spain, Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala carry Germany, Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo carry Brazil.
The 2026 World Cup has generational talent at the top of every major contender's roster, it is not a tournament defined by a single dominant player but by a generation of players arriving simultaneously at their peaks.
How To Watch Every Game
Every one of the 104 matches airs live on FOX or FS1 in English, 70 games on FOX, 34 on FS1. Every match streams live on the FOX One app and the FOX Sports app, and every match is available in 4K through FOX One.
Forty matches, more than one-third of the tournament, air in prime time. The opening match and the US opener both stream free on Tubi without a cable subscription.
Spanish-language coverage is on Telemundo for 92 games and Universo for 12, with all 104 available in Spanish on Peacock.
The tournament runs until July 19. The final is at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Forty-eight nations are in it. One will win.