The countdown has begun. When we are on the eve of the first Club World Cup in history, today, June 11, 2025, there is exactly one year to go before the 23rd World Cup. It will be a very special event for many reasons. The main one is that it will be the World Cup with the most teams in history. For the first time there will be 48 participants opening the door to a new global competitive scenario.
Another big novelty is the number of hosts. Never before have three countries hosted the tournament. Canada, Mexico and the United States will share 16 venues. Mexico’s case is peculiar because it will also be the first country to host three World Cups, after those in 1970 and 1986. All this means that the tournament will have more matches than ever before (104), that many countries (yet to be defined) will make their debut and that the calendar will be the longest ever. Again, for the first time, it will last more than a month.
Calendar: June 11 to July 19
The ball will start rolling on Thursday, June 11, 2026, in Mexico City and the final will be played on Sunday, July 19, in New York-New Jersey. This marks a return to the classic summer World Cup format after the exception of Qatar 2022.
The full match schedule is now set. The group stage will run from June 11 to 27. The round of 32 will be played from June 28 to July 3 and the round of 16 from July 4 to 8. July 9 will be the first rest day, before the quarter-finals between July 9 and 11. There will be another rest day on July 12 and 13, with the semi-finals on July 14 and 15. Again, there will be a two-day break (July 16 and 17) before the third-place play-off on Saturday, July 18 and the final on Sunday, July 19.
Now, all that remains is to complete the participants and the draw to know the pairings. What we do know is that Mexico will be in the opening match. It will be at the legendary Estadio Azteca, where Pele won his third World Cup and where Maradona lifted the World Cup for Argentina in ’86. The ball will kick off at 20:00 Spanish time.
One day later, the other two hosts will make their debuts. Canada will play at Toronto’s BMO Field and the United States at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium. The Stars and Stripes will be the host nation for the most matches. Guadalajara, Vancouver and Seattle will also host matches for their respective national teams during the group stage, reinforcing the World Cup atmosphere at home.
The matches on the first two matchdays of the group stage will be played in four time slots: 13:00, 15:00, 18:00 and 20:00 (local time). The third matchday, as well as the round of 32, round of 16 and quarter-finals, will be concentrated in two time slots: 16:00 and 19:00. The semi-finals, to be played in Dallas and Atlanta, will kick off at 18:00, while the third-place match in Miami will be played at 16:00. The final will be on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New York/New Jersey at 17:00, which will be 23:00 in Spain
Round of 32
One of the most important changes will be the expansion of the competition format. Initially, the first phase was to consist of 16 groups of three teams each, but this controversial decision was unanimously modified by the FIFA Council in 2023, prioritising competitiveness and fairness of the tournament
Finally, the tournament will be structured into 12 groups of four teams (instead of the eight that had been in place since the 1998 World Cup in France). Each team will still enjoy at least three matches. The change comes after that. It will no longer be just the top two from each group who qualify, but also the eight best third-placed teams. Therefore, 32 of the 48 teams will progress to the next round.
In this way, we find ourselves with one more round. The qualifiers will not enter the round of 16, but the round of 32. This increases the number of matches per champion from seven to eight, extending the journey to the title.
Opening match
The starting signal will be given on June 11 at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City at 20:00 Spanish time. The Mexican national team will be one of the two teams to open the tournament. It will be the first stadium to host three World Cup opening matches. It also hosted the 1970 and 1986 finals.
The stadium currently hosts Club America and Cruz Azul, as well as the Mexico national team, while Pumas, Atlante, Atletico Espanyol and Necaxa have all played here.
In addition to the opening match, it will host two other group stage matches, one round of 32 match and one round of 16 match.
Final
It will be on July 19 at the MetLife Stadium in New York / New Jersey at 23:00 Spanish time. Opened in 2010 and with a capacity of 82,500 spectators, this multi-purpose stadium, home to the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets, as well as the XFL’s New York Guardians, will also host five group stage matches, one round of 16 match and one round of 16 match.
It was the venue for the final of the 2016 Copa America Centenario, in which Chile defeated Argentina, and the 48th edition of the Super Bowl in 2014, when the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos. It will also host the Club World Cup, where it will host nine matches, including the two semi-finals and the final
Hosts: three countries, 16 cities and colossal stadiums
The 2026 World Cup will be the most territorially extensive in history. In total, 16 cities in three different countries will host matches.
The choice of New York-New Jersey as the venue for the final and the Azteca as the starting point are two of the great symbolic nods of an event that mixes tradition and modernity. From the Azteca, which will make history by hosting its third World Cup, to the imposing US venues such as MetLife Stadium, SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, the tournament will feature top-class infrastructure.
In total, 16 stadiums will host the matches. Canada will have Vancouver’s BC Place and Toronto’s BMO Field, while Mexico will provide the colossi of Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. The United States, with 11 host cities, will bring together an unprecedented array of venues in terms of capacity and technology.
Dallas will be the city that hosts the most matches in the entire tournament with nine, confirming its importance within the organizational structure of the 2026 World Cup. It is followed by Los Angeles, New York/New Jersey and Atlanta, with eight each.
Canada
- Toronto: BMO Field (30,000 spectators)
- Vancouver: BC Place (54,500 capacity)
Mexico
- Guadalajara: Estadio Akron (46,232 capacity)
- Mexico City: Estadio Azteca (83,264 capacity)
- Monterrey: Estadio BBVA Monterrey (51,348 capacity)
United States
- Atlanta: Mercedes-Benz Stadium (71,000 spectators)
- Boston: Gillette Stadium (65,878 spectators)
- Dallas: AT&T Stadium (80,000 spectators)
- Houston: NRG Stadium (71,795 spectators)
- Kansas City: Arrowhead Stadium (76,416 spectators)
- Los Angeles: SoFi Stadium (70,000 spectators)
- Miami: Hard Rock Stadium (75,540 spectators)
- New York/New Jersey: MetLife Stadium (82,500 capacity)
- Philadelphia: Lincoln Financial Field (69,596 spectators)
- San Francisco Bay Area: Levi’s Stadium (68,500 spectators)
- Seattle: Lumen Field (68,764)
Classifieds: first tickets distributed
A year before the tournament, there are already 13 teams with a guaranteed place, two of which (Uzbekistan and Jordan) will be making their debuts.
- Hosts: Canada, Mexico and the United States (automatically qualified)
- AFC (Asia): Japan, South Korea, Iran, Uzbekistan and Jordan
- CONMEBOL: Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador
- OFC (Oceania): New Zealand and Australia
The rest of the confederations are still immersed in their qualifying phases, which will conclude throughout 2025 and early 2026. With the jump to 48 teams, the new World Cup offers more opportunities to traditionally less represented regions. This will be the distribution of direct places:
- UEFA (Europe):16
- CAF (Africa): 9
- AFC (Asia): 8
- CONMEBOL (South America): 6
- Concacaf (North America and Caribbean):6 (including the three hosts)
- OFC (Oceania):
In addition, there will be six additional places (one from Africa, Asia, South America and Oceania and two from North and Central America and the Caribbean) which will be decided in an intercontinental play-off tournament, allowing more teams to dream of the big event.
365 days of waiting. A year for the world’s greatest soccer event to begin. And one big dream: to see Spain lift the World Cup again.
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