Taking place across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, the 2026 FIFA World Cup is fast approaching.
Arguably the most anticipated event in soccer, the tournament, which comes around every four years, will see 48 countries compete across 104 games over a five-and-a-half week period.
It’s the second time in history that the U.S. will serve as a host country, but this year’s contest has already prompted controversy due to questions over Iran’s participation amid the ongoing war, visa concerns for fans hoping to watch the U.S. matches, and steep ticket prices.
As anticipation builds, here’s everything you need to know about the tournament.
The World Cup will kick-off on June 11 in Mexico City, where one of three opening ceremonies will take place, followed by the first game of the tournament between Mexico and South Africa.
Throughout the tournament, matches will be played across the three host countries.
Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey will host the matches in Mexico. Vancouver and Toronto will welcome the matches taking place in Canada.
The rest of the matches will be played in the U.S., with Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York-New Jersey, Philadelphia, Seattle, and San Francisco hosting fixtures.
The hotly-anticipated final on July 19 will be played at the MetLife Stadium in Rutherford, New Jersey.
The final will also include the first World Cup half-time show, an event that is already drawing comparisons to the Super Bowl tradition. Soccer fans were given a taste at last year’s Club World Cup final, also played at the MetLife.
For audiences in the U.S., all matches will be available to watch live on Fox Sports. 70 matches will be broadcast on the FOX channel, with the other 34 on the Fox Sports 1 Channel (FS1).
Tubi, FOX Corporation’s free ad-supported streaming platform, will simulcast two matches free of charge and without requiring an account—the tournament opener and the United States men’s national soccer team opening game against Paraguay.
Spanish-language viewers can access coverage of all 104 games through NBC’s Peacock streaming service if they are Peacock Premium or Premium Plus subscribers. On TV, 92 matches will be broadcast on Telemundo, with the remaining 12 available to watch on Universo.
How does the tournament work?
This is the first time the World Cup will feature 48 teams, so the format is slightly different.
Teams have been drawn into 12 groups of four, with nations from the same group playing each other once. The top two from each group, as well as the eight best third-place teams, will all progress to the knockout phase.
The 32 teams will compete in a knockout format until the final on July 19.
The U.S. national team will face its first group game against Paraguay in Los Angeles on June 12, at 6 p.m. local time. The next game will be against Australia in Seattle on June 19, followed by the final group stage game against Turkey in Los Angeles on June 25.
The full schedule can be found here.
“I think they're a very physical squad, and that probably works for the conditions,” soccer journalist and author Jonathan Wilson tells TIME of the U.S. team, pointing towards the high temperatures expected, similar to the Club World Cup last year.
However, he argues there are “four teams who obviously stand above the rest” naming Spain, France, England, and Argentina, as the contenders to watch.
This year there will be three opening ceremonies—one in each of the host countries.
The ceremony in Mexico will see an array of artists including Alejandro Fernández, Belinda, Danny Ocean, J Balvin, Lila Downs, Los Ángeles Azules, Maná and Tyla perform on June 11, starting 90 minutes before kick-off.
Toronto will host a second ceremony on June 12, featuring Alanis Morissette, Alessia Cara, Elyanna, Jessie Reyez, Michael Bublé, Nora Fatehi, Sanjoy, Vegedream, William Prince. That same day, Los Angeles will host its own ceremony, with Katy Perry, Future, Anitta, LISA, Rema, and Tyla are set to perform.
There is also much buzz about the final, which will see a World Cup half-time show. Curated by Coldplay’s Chris Martin, the line-up will feature performances from Shakira, Madonna, and BTS.
What has been the controversy over the tickets?
On May 27, the attorneys general of New York and New Jersey said they had issued subpoenas to FIFA over the sports governing body's ticketing practices.
New Jersey AG Jennifer Davenport and New York AG Letitia James are "seeking information about [FIFA's] ticketing practices and are specifically requesting details about ticketing practices for eight World Cup matches hosted in New Jersey, including the World Cup final on July 19, 2026," read the accompanying press release.
"Recent press reports indicate that fans may have been misled about the locations of the seats they were purchasing, and FIFA’s public statements and ticket releases may have contributed to soaring prices."
Since last September, FIFA has sold match tickets in different phases, the last of which is the current “last-minute sales phase” that began on April 1, due to last up until the day of the tournament.
But the steep price of most tickets across matches, from the group stage to the final, has sparked criticism.
Earlier in May, President Donald Trump was asked about paying a potential $1,000 for a ticket to the U.S. team’s opening game against Paraguay.
“I did not know that number,” said Trump. “I would certainly like to be there, but I wouldn’t pay it either, to be honest with you.”
As of May 27, the only available ticket on the FIFA website for the final on July 19 costs $35,000.
On the FIFA Marketplace resale platform, the cheapest ticket for the final comes in at $8,739. More desirable resale seats have been listed for millions of dollars.
The eye-watering prices have largely been attributed to U.S. competitive pricing practices.
“We are in the market in which entertainment is the most developed in the world, so we have to apply market rates,”, said FIFA president Gianni Infantino on May 5.
The approach has been criticized by some soccer fans, with one Europe-based soccer fan group calling FIFA’s strategy a “monumental betrayal.”
“In the past, a ticket was this sort of golden key to this great experience, but now it's just a commodity to be traded,” argues Wilson.
—Eva Marie Uzcategui—Getty ImagesInfantino has framed the World Cup as a chance for soccer to “unite the world,” promising that the 2026 offering will be “the most inclusive and greatest” ever.
As many as 10 million visitors are expected to travel to the U.S. for the soccer spectacular, but there are concerns about visas and restrictions in light of the Trump Administration's hardline immigration crackdown.
Many fans welcomed the Trump Administration’s decision in mid-May to waive visa bonds for ticketholders from countries that have qualified for the World Cup.
Ticketholders from Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Tunisia were deemed exempt from the visa bonds following the adjustment.
“The visa bond will be waived for nationals of competing countries who by April 15 purchased FIFA World Cup tickets and opted in to the FIFA Priority Appointment Scheduling System (PASS) through the FIFA website, and demonstrate that they are otherwise fully eligible for a U.S. visitor visa,” read the notice from the State Department, which framed the move as being part of Trump’s “commitment to hosting the biggest, best, and safest sporting event in World Cup history.”
The visa bond policy, according to the Trump Administration, affects 50 countries whose nationals have travelled to the U.S. on legal visas but frequently overstay their visas. As per the policy, applicants are required to post bonds of up to $15,000 to attain a Visa—this sum is refunded if they comply with the terms of the visa or if their visa application is denied.
Aside from discussions over how people will get into the U.S., there are also concerns around the potential presence of Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) officers at matches.
“There is nothing that would preclude immigration enforcement from being able to go to an event,” Jennie Murray, president of the National Immigration Forum, tells TIME.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said last week that ICE and agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) will be deployed at the World Cup to assist in dealing with criminal activity.
“When you have crowds this big, criminal activities follow,” said Mullin, adding that ICE and HSI personnel will be “out there every day, fighting against the counterfeit tickets, human trafficking, drug smuggling, counterfeit products,” working hand-in-hand with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials.
He did not specify if agents will be carrying out actions aimed at detaining undocumented immigrants.
Earlier in the month, Mullin was asked by CBS whether the mission at the World Cup will involve immigration enforcement.
“Well, ICE always says immigration enforcement. We're always going to do that. But we're not there for solely that purpose. We're in there to do our job,” he said. “We're not there to go round up mass individuals, but we are always looking for the worst of the worst. We're going to continue to do that.”
Amnesty International, alongside numerous civil organizations, has issued a travel advisory for people planning on traveling to the U.S. for the tournament.
The organization argues that “immigrant communities, racial and ethnic minority groups, and LGBTQ+ individuals… continue to be disproportionately targeted and affected by the Administration’s policies and, as such, are most vulnerable to serious harm when traveling to and/or within the United States.”
The advisory urges people to alert family and friends of their World Cup plans, and consult various non-profit agencies for information about constitutional rights and protections when interacting with law enforcement in the U.S.
Iran's participation sparks questions amid geopolitical tensions
Since the start of the Iran war in late February, there had been much speculation as to whether the country would compete in the tournament as planned.
Paolo Zampolli, the U.S. special envoy for global partnerships, reportedly suggested that Italy, who failed to qualify, could take Iran’s place instead.
But FIFA has said that Iran will play as scheduled at the World Cup and officials from the soccer association met with Iranian sporting officials in Turkey on May 16 to reaffirm the country’s participation.
Iran has always stood firm in its position that it will travel to North America for the tournament.
"We are going to the World Cup, for which we qualified, and our host is FIFA—not Mr. Trump or America,” said Mehdi Taj, president of the Iran Football Federation, in early May.
FIFA has since confirmed that Iran has relocated its planned World Cup training base from the U.S. to Mexico amid security concerns against the backdrop of the war.
Experts note that amid all the controversy and geopolitical tensions, there could end up being a U.S.-Iran soccer match.
“There is the possibility that [if] both the U.S. and Iran finish second in their groups, they play each other in the round of 32,” says Wilson.
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