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The 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, is set to be the largest edition in the tournament’s history. It will feature an expanded lineup of 48 teams, 16 venues, and a record-breaking 104 matches played over a span of 39 days. This marks the first time since FIFA’s expansion from 32 to 48 teams that the new format will be implemented, adding four new groups and introducing a fresh round of 32 in the knockout stages.

This expansion moves away from the 32-team, 64-match structure that has been in place for the last seven tournaments since 1998. It will also be just the second World Cup ever played across multiple nations, following the Japan–South Korea edition in 2002.

Of the 16 selected venues, Mexico will host 13 fixtures, including the opening match on June 11 in Mexico City between the host nation and South Africa, along with three knockout ties. Canada will also stage 13 matches, kicking off on June 12 in Toronto where the home team will face Bosnia-Herzegovina, and will likewise host three knockout games. The United States will hold the majority of the action with 78 matches spread across 11 stadiums, beginning with the American side taking on Paraguay on June 12 in the Los Angeles area. All quarterfinals, semifinals, and the final will be played on U.S. soil, with the grand finale taking place at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

The tournament will feature a record 1,248 players representing 449 clubs from 71 nations, showcasing football’s broad global reach. Among them, 357 players have prior World Cup experience, while 891 will be making their debut appearances on the sport’s grandest platform.

Clubs from England top the list of contributors, sending 200 players to various national squads. Germany follows with 109, while France and Spain each provide 86 players. Italy contributes 71, and Saudi Arabia 49. Major League Soccer will see an all-time high of 44 active players participating, with another 103 who have previously played in the league.

At club level, Manchester City from the Premier League has the largest contingent with a record 19 players. They are followed closely by Bayern Munich with 18, while Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal have 16 each. Barcelona completes the top five with 15 representatives.

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo leads all participants with 226 international caps — the highest for any male player — and is set to join Argentina’s Lionel Messi as one of only two players to appear in six World Cups. Ronaldo remains the only footballer to score in five separate World Cups, netting eight goals across 22 matches.

Messi holds the record for most World Cup appearances with 26 games and is just two matches away from becoming the third player in history to reach 200 international caps, joining Kuwait’s Bader Al-Mutawa. Croatia’s Luka Modric is also close, needing three more appearances to enter that elite club. Mexico’s Guillermo Ochoa will feature in his sixth World Cup squad, although he did not play in 2006 and 2010.

Germany’s Miroslav Klose holds the all-time World Cup scoring record with 16 goals, a mark that could be challenged in this edition. Messi enters the tournament with 13 goals, trailing Klose, Brazil’s Ronaldo (15), and Gerd Muller (14). France’s Kylian Mbappe, with 12 goals from the past two tournaments, is also within striking distance.

Only eight nations have ever lifted the World Cup trophy, with six of them having won multiple times. Brazil leads with five titles. The last two first-time winners were France in 1998 and Spain in 2010. Only two teams have successfully defended their titles: Brazil under Pele in 1958 and 1962, and Italy in 1934 and 1938. Three other reigning champions reached the final, including France in 2022 before losing to Argentina.

Six defending champions have failed to progress beyond the group stage, including three in the last four editions — Italy in 2010, Spain in 2014, and Germany in 2018. France, however, returned to the final in 2022. The French will now aim to become the third team to reach three consecutive finals after winning in 2018 and finishing runners-up in 2022. West Germany achieved that feat in 1982, 1986, and 1990, while Brazil did so between 1994 and 2002, losing only in 1998 to France.

Brazil remains the only nation to have competed in all 23 World Cups since the inaugural event in 1930 in Uruguay. The Seleção also lead all nations with 76 wins, 237 goals, and a goal difference of +129. Germany ranks second in all three categories with 21 appearances, 232 goals, and a +102 goal difference, including their history as West Germany.

Four nations — Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan — will make their World Cup debuts in 2026, raising the total number of participating countries in World Cup history to 84.

Egypt will be seeking their first-ever World Cup win, having gone 0-5-2 in seven matches. They will start their campaign against Belgium on June 15. Honduras, which did not qualify this year, remains the only nation with more matches (nine) and no victories.

Across the first 22 World Cups, 2,720 goals have been scored in 964 matches. With 40 additional games on the schedule, the record of 172 goals set in Qatar 2022 is likely to be broken. However, the record average of 5.38 goals per match from 1954 is expected to remain intact.

The age gap between the oldest and youngest players in the 2026 World Cup will exceed 25 years. Scotland’s goalkeeper Craig Gordon will be 43 years and 162 days old on the opening day, while Mexico’s Gilbert Mora will be just 17 years and 240 days old.