Australia has opted against a bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, leaving Saudi Arabia on course to stage the tournament for the first time.
The announcement from Football Australia came just hours before FIFA’s deadline for declarations of interest on Tuesday — and four weeks after The Athletic revealed Morocco, Spain and Portugal will host the 2030 World Cup.
The opening three matches of the tournament will be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, however, to mark the centenary of the very first World Cup.
But before those events, the most widely watched sporting event in the world will head to North America, with Canada, Mexico, and the United States set to host the party in 2026.
It will be a historic World Cup. Not only will it be the first since 2002 to be hosted by more than one nation, it will also be the first World Cup to include 48 teams, expanded from 32. Here’s everything you need to know.
What is the World Cup?
It is the premier international football competition where the best teams on the planet meet every four years to determine the world champions.
It is regularly described as the most watched single sporting event in the world and FIFA said the dramatic 2022 final, which saw Argentina beat France on penalties in Qatar, reached a global audience of 1.5 billion viewers.
Where is it being held in 2026?
For the first time since 1994, the World Cup will return to North America.
The bulk of the matches will be played in the U.S., but Canada and Mexico will both enjoy a healthy share.
When was that decided?
The bidding process for the 2026 World Cup started more than a decade ago as the three North American federations outlined their intention to host their own tournament, before deciding — and announcing in April 2017 — that a joint bid would serve them better.
The vote took place in June 2018 and the only competition for the North American bid came from Morocco.
The U.S., Canada and Mexico received 134 votes, Morocco received 65.
Is it the first time?
Not for the U.S. or Mexico — but it is Canada’s first time hosting a men’s World Cup.
As far as men’s tournaments go, Mexico were the first North American nation to host the World Cup. They have staged the tournament twice, in 1970 and 1986, editions won by Brazil and Argentina respectively.
Eight years later, the U.S. staged the party and it was Brazil who lifted the trophy for the fourth time after beating Italy on penalties at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
Brazil won the last World Cup held on American soil (Photo: Getty Images)
While they have not hosted a men’s World Cup, Canada do have experience of hosting the Women’s World Cup. They hosted the tournament in 2015 and it was won by the USWNT.
The USWNT were the home team at two previous iterations of the tournament, in 1999 and 2003, so there is plenty of expertise among the 2026 host trio.
What stadiums will host the games?
In June last year, FIFA announced the 16 host cities. They were separated into three geographical divisions:
- West region – Guadalajara, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Vancouver
- Central region – Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Mexico City, Monterrey
- West region – Boston, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Toronto
As for the selected stadiums: only Estadio Azteca in Mexico City has hosted a men’s World Cup match previously. None of the arenas used in 1994 will be used this time around, nor any of the others from 1970 or 1986.
It has not yet been confirmed which games will be played at each stadium. The ones that will be used are:
(Ordered by bid book capacity)
- AT &T Stadium (Dallas) – 92,967
- Estadio Azteca (Mexico City) – 87,523
- MetLife Stadium (New York/New Jersey) – 87,157
- Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas City) – 76,640
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta) – 75,000
- NRG Stadium (Houston) – 72,220
- Levi’s Stadium (San Francisco Bay Area) – 70,909
- SoFi Stadium (Los Angeles) – 70,240
- Gillette Stadium (Boston) – 70,000
- Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia) – 69, 328
- Lumen Field (Seattle) – 69,000
- Hard Rock Stadium (Miami) – 67,518
- BC Place (Vancouver) – 54,500
- Estadio BBVA (Monterrey) – 53,460
- Estadio Akron (Guadalajara) – 48,071
- BMO Field (Toronto) – 45,736 (expanding from current 30,000 capacity for the tournament)
But last month, The Athletic reported that Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) — owners of the SoFi Stadium — are unhappy with the terms of the deal to host fixtures during the World Cup and have threatened to walk away from the tournament unless the deal is renegotiated.
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Does that mean the US,Canada and Mexico have qualified automatically?
Yes, all three nations will not have to participate in qualifying.
It was confirmed in 2022 that they would all be granted automatic places at the tournament. FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced that, in total, six nations from the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) will qualify.
The 2026 World Cup will be the first to include 48 teams (Photo: Getty Images)
What about the other countries? Who else will be there?
While it is fair to assume the usual suspects will be involved in the finals of the 2026 World Cup, we do not yet know which nations, outside of the three hosts, will qualify.
The qualification process got underway in September, with South American (CONMEBOL) countries playing their first couple of qualifiers. Asian nations were the next to begin their qualification campaigns.
African (CAF) qualification begins during the next international break in November while the other confederations wait for next year and beyond.
North, Central American and Caribbean countries (CONCACAF) and Oceanic nations (OFC) begin in March and September of 2024 respectively. Finally, European (UEFA) qualification will start in March 2025 and conclude within a year.
Hang on, what’s this about there being more teams than ever?
The 2026 World Cup will be the first to be contested by 48 teams, rather than the 32-team tournaments we have been used to watching since 1998.
Initially, it was planned that there would be 16 three-team groups. However, Infantino ditched this idea and instead opted for 12 four-team groups after seeing — and enjoying — the drama of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
While criticism around the decision to expand the World Cup has focused on FIFA’s thirst for increased revenue, the new format allows 16 more teams than usual to qualify.
And more teams means more matches: the 2026 tournament will have 40 more games than the 32-team versions — increasing from 64 to 104.
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Who are the early favourites?
While there are still almost three years until the tournament will be played, the current favourites are unlikely to change much.
At present, Brazil, France and England have the shortest odds to lift the World Cup in North America, with Argentina, Germany and Spain not too far behind.
France are the bookmakers’ early favourites (Photo: Getty Images)
Of the host nations, the USMNT are most fancied, followed by Mexico. Canada have significantly longer odds.
Where will I be able to watch it?
In the UK, major football tournaments are currently protected in the Ofcom Code as ‘listed events’ to ensure they are freely available to all audiences and not locked behind paywalls.
That means the BBC and ITV — who have been the custodians of the live World Cup coverage — will show the 2026 tournament on free-to-air television, unless a significant change is made.
In the U.S. and Canada, it was confirmed in 2015 that broadcasting rights contracts had been renewed with Fox, Telemundo and CTV/TSN parent company Bell Media to cover the home tournament.
What is the latest news?
_The Athletic’s_Melanie Anzidei last month wrote about the current situation regarding the host cities for the tournament — which you can find below.
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Shortly before that, Adam Crafton wrote about the aforementioned tensions between the Kroenke family and FIFA over SoFi Stadium’s involvement, or lack thereof.
Keep an eye across The Athletic over the coming months and years as the 2026 World Cup edges ever closer.
(Photo: Getty Images)
