The 2026 FIFA World Cup of Soccer is scheduled for June 11th to July 19th.
FIFA is the international governing body of soccer, it’s a French acronym for Fédération Internationale de Football Association
In Spanish the World Cup is the Copa Mundial de Fútbol de 2026.
This is the biggest one yet, with 48 national teams competing in 104 games, played in 16 cities in three countries (the U.S., Canada and Mexico).
Here are the 48 teams competing, organized within their international conferences:
- AFC (Asian Football Confederation) : Australia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Uzbekistan.
- CAF (Confederation of African Football) : Algeria, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of the Congo (capital city Kinshasa), Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia.
- CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football): Canada, Curaçao (a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands), Haiti, Mexico, Panama, United States.
- CONMEBOL (CONfederación SudaMEricana de FútBOL): Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay
- OFC (Oceania Football Confederation): New Zealand
- UEFA (Union of European Football Associations): Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey. (Note that England and Scotland compete as separate teams, not as the United Kingdom).
All those 48 teams compete in 16 different venues. Here are the venues:
U.S.A. : New York metroplex (East Rutherford, New Jersey); Dallas metro (Arlington); Kansas City, Missouri; Houston; Atlanta; Los Angeles metro (Inglewood); Seattle; San Franciso Bay Area (Santa Clara); Philadelphia; Miami metro (Miami Gardens); Boston metro (Foxborough).
Canada: Vancouver; Toronto.
Mexico: Mexico City; Monterrey metro (Guadalupe); Guadalajara metro (Zapopan).
There are to be 48 national teams competing, an increase from 32 in the last World Cup in 2022. There are 104 games scheduled.
Here’s a map of the 16 venues:
Before and during the World Cup, each national team has a base camp in North America where they stay and train.
For example, the base camp of the Algeria team is Lawrence, Kansas.
Of the 48 base camps, 39 of them are located in the United States, 2 in Canada and 7 in Mexico .
The Canada team’s base camp is in Vancouver, while the Panama team is in the Canadian province of Ontario.
The Mexico team’s base camp is in Mexico City. The South Africa team’s base camp is in the state of Hidalgo in Mexico. The Tunisia team is in the Monterrey metroplex. The Uruguay team’s base camp is in Playa del Carmen in Quintana Roo. Both the Colombia team and the South Korea team are based in the Guadalajara metroplex, with a hotel in Guadalajara and a training site in Zapopan. The Iran team’s base camp is in Tijuana, Baja California.
Here is the official soccer ball of the 2026 World Cup, the Adidas Trionda:
