The 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, is poised to be the largest in history, with an expanded 48-team field, 16 stadiums, and a record 104 matches over 39 days. This marks the first tournament since FIFA expanded from 32 to 48 teams, introducing four additional groups and a new round of 32 in the knockout phase.
The expansion departs from the 32-team, 64-game format of the last seven editions since 1998. It is also only the second World Cup played across multiple countries, following Japan and South Korea in 2002.
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The 16 venues will see Mexico stage 13 matches, including the June 11 opener in Mexico City between the host team and South Africa, plus three knockout fixtures. Canada also secures 13 matches, with its June 12 inaugural game in Toronto featuring the hosts against Bosnia-Herzegovina, alongside three knockout rounds. The United States will host the majority, with 78 matches across 11 sites, commencing with the American team facing Paraguay on June 12 in the Los Angeles area. All quarterfinal, semifinal, and the final match will be held in the U.S., culminating at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
1,248
The upcoming World Cup is set to feature a record 1,248 players, drawn from 449 domestic clubs across 71 nations, underscoring the tournament’s vast global footprint. Among these athletes, 357 bring prior World Cup experience, while a significant 891 are poised to make their debut on football’s grandest stage.
England-based clubs lead the way in contributions, supplying 200 players to national rosters. Germany follows with 109, ahead of France and Spain, both providing 86 players. Italy adds 71, and Saudi Arabia 49. Major League Soccer will also see a record 44 active players participate, with 103 having some past experience in the league.
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At the club level, Manchester City of the Premier League boast the highest representation with a record 19 players. German giants Bayern Munich are close behind with 18, while Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal each contribute 16. Spanish powerhouse Barcelona rounds out the top clubs with 15 players.
226
Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo leads all players in the tournament with 226 caps — the most ever by a single men’s player — as he is set to join Argentina’s Lionel Messi as the only players to appear in six World Cups.
Ronaldo is the only player to score in five World Cups with eight goals in his 22 matches.
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Messi has the most career World Cup matches with 26 and needs two appearances to become the third man with at least 200 caps (Bader Al-Mutawa, Kuwait, also has more 200 appearances in international play). Croatia’s Luka Modric is three short of joining that group.
Mexico’s Guillermo Ochoa is on a World Cup roster for the sixth time but didn’t appear in a game in 2006 or 2010.
16
Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 career goals for Germany could jeopardy in this year’s edition. Messi comes into the tournament with 13 career goals, trailing only Klose, Brazilian star Ronaldo (15) and Gerd Muller (14). France’s Kylian Mbappe is also in range having scored 12 goals combined in the past two tournaments
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8
Only eight countries have won the World Cup with six of those teams winning multiple titles led by Brazil’s five. The only first-time winners in the last 11 Cups came in 1998 when France won the first of its two titles and in 2010 when Spain won it all.
2
Only two countries have repeated as champions with Pele leading Brazil to titles in 1958 and ‘62, and Italy winning it in 1934 and ’38. Three other defending champions made it to the title game, including France four years ago before losing to Argentina.
6
There have been six defending champions who failed to make it out of the group stage, including in three of the last four editions. France made it back to the final in 2022 but Italy (2010), Spain (2014) and Germany (2018) all get eliminated before the knockout rounds.
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3
France will try to become the third county to make it to three straight finals after winning it in 2018 and losing in 2022. West Germany lost the final in 1982 and ’86 before beating Argentina in 1990. Brazil had wins in 1994 and 2002 around a title game loss to France in 1998.
23
Brazil is the only country to appear in all 23 editions of the World Cup starting in 1930 in Uruguay. The Brazilians also lead all countries with 76 wins, 237 goals and a plus-129 goal differential. Germany is next in all three categories with 21 appearances, 232 goals and a plus-102 goal differential, including 10 appearances as West Germany before reunification.
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4
There are four countries making their World Cup debuts with Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan the newcomers this time around. That will increase the total of countries to compete in the World Cup to 84 all-time.
7
Egypt has played seven World Cup matches without a win. The Egyptians are 0-5-2 and will try to break through starting June 15 against Belgium. The only country with more games and no wins is Honduras with nine. Honduras didn’t qualify this year.
2,720
There have been 2,720 goals scored in 964 matches in the first 22 World Cups. With the additional 40 games, the record of 172 goals in a tournament set in Qatar in 2022 should be broken. The record of 5.38 combined goals per game set in 1954 should be safe.
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25
There is more than 25 years separating the oldest player from the youngest. Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon will be 43 years and 162 days old on the first day of the tournament, while Mexico’s Gilbert Mora will be 17 years, 240 days old.
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