World Cup 2026: Full Schedule, Groups, Stadiums & How to Watch as North America Prepares for Biggest Tournament Ever
The countdown to the 2026 World Cup is properly underway, with the USA, Canada and Mexico gearing up to host the biggest edition of the tournament we’ve ever seen. Forty-eight nations, 104 matches, and a final in New Jersey — football’s biggest circus is heading across the Atlantic, and the numbers alone show how massive this thing is going to be.
The 23rd World Cup kicks off on 11 June 2026 at Mexico City’s iconic Estadio Azteca, the same ground that’s witnessed Maradona, Pelé and more than a few miracles. The final lands on 19 July at MetLife Stadium, just outside New York, marking the end of a packed 39-day festival that organisers has promised will “redefine the global game”. Big words, but with Messi, Haaland, Mbappé and whoever else survives the qualifying minefield, it’s hard to argue excitement isn’t building already.
The group-stage draw doesn’t drop until 5 December 2025, so most groups are still full of TBCs. But the skeleton is there: 12 groups, four teams in each, top two guaranteed to advance, and a round of 32 for the first time ever — meaning half the planet seems to be involved by the time the knockouts roll around. From 11 June to 27 June it’s wall-to-wall football across the USA, Mexico and Canada as the biggest squads in history try to navigate the expanded format.
England fans already know their TV situation: BBC and ITV has the rights once again, sharing matches throughout the tournament and usually co-showing the final. Over in the States, FOX and Telemundo will split English- and Spanish-language coverage, while TSN takes the reins in Canada. It’s one of the most commercially lucrative broadcasting slates FIFA has ever dished out.
Ticket sales will run through FIFA’s official portal, with group-stage seats starting around $60 and knockout ties climbing into the hundreds or thousands depending on demand. With matches being staged everywhere from Dallas to Vancouver, travelling fans will need deep pockets — or serious air miles.
And the venues are some of the biggest beasts world football’s ever used. The US contributes 11 stadiums alone, including the gigantic 82,500-capacity MetLife Stadium (host of the final), the 80,000-seater AT&T in Dallas and the futuristic SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Mexico provides the legendary Azteca plus Estadio Akron and Estadio BBVA, while Canada’s games will be played in Toronto’s BMO Field and Vancouver’s BC Place. All told, it’s 16 venues across three countries — an unprecedented spread for a World Cup.
Even the kits are starting to drop. Argentina, Spain and Mexico have already unveiled their home shirts, with adidas and Nike leading the charge. Expect airports full of fans in fresh drops long before the opening match is even close.
For now, the world waits for the draw, waits for the squads, and waits for the storylines that always emerge when football’s greatest prize is on the line. Come June 2026, the biggest World Cup ever staged will finally roar into life — and it already feels like it’s going to be one for the ages.