Looking forward 2026 | A World Cup of records

Host nation Mexico and South Africa will kick off the FIFA World Cup 2026 tournament on Thursday 11 June at the Mexico City Stadium in Mexico City.

It will be the first of 104 games to be played across 16 host cities in three countries—Canada, Mexico and the United States. This year’s tournament will feature 48 teams, making it the biggest ever. It is also the first to be hosted by three countries.

The World Cup will undoubtedly be the sporting event of the year—possibly political, as well, given the trade and migration tensions between the US and its two neighbours.

Undoubtedly, US President Donald Trump will use the occasion to present himself as a world leader, whose love for peace reflects the belief espoused by FIFA, the world football organisation, that football is a unifying power.

But beyond Trump’s larger-than-life presence, football fans around the globe will be glued to their TV screens watching the GOATs of football—Argentine Lionel Messi and Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo—take part in what is ostensibly their last World Cup appearance. Argentina are the holders, having won the last World Cup held in Qatar in 2022. They start the defence of their title by playing against Algeria on 17 June.

The 2026 World Cup will see at least four teams play for the first time in the finals—Curacao, Cabo Verde, Jordan and Uzbekistan. They may be joined by others after the play-offs in March.

The tiny, Caribbean island of Curacao, with a population of around 156,000, became the smallest nation ever to reach the World Cup. With Curacao having a FIFA World Ranking of 82, from the teams that have so far qualified to the World Cup, only New Zealand and Haiti are worse off, ranked 87 and 84 respectively.

Meanwhile, just across the Atlantic Ocean, Cabo Verde, an archipelago off the coast of west Africa, with a population of 525,000, will be the other minnow nation to compete in the 2026 World Cup. Making their debut in the tournament, Cabo Verde is ranked 67.

Meanwhile, Jordan and Uzbekistan, the other tournament first-timers, are ranked 64 and 50 respectively.

Back to the Caribbean, gang-ravaged Haiti qualified for the World Cup for the first time since their debut in 1974, while Norway, Scotland and Austria will mark a return to the World Cup after a 28-year lapse.

The last six teams to qualify for the World Cup will be known in March when play-off matches are held to secure the last berths. Four of the teams will hail from Europe, while the other two could come from any of the other regional federations. Four-time world champions Italy will have to slog it out in the play-offs after failing to secure an automatic berth in the group qualifiers.

The final will be held on Sunday 19 July at the New Jersey Stadium in New York.