FIFA World Cup 2026 explained in maps and charts

The FIFA World Cup 2026 will take place in the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.

This year’s football tournament will be the largest World Cup ever held, expanding from 32 to 48 national teams.

In this visual explainer, Al Jazeera explores the qualified teams, groups, match schedule, host stadiums and prize money for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

For the first time in the tournament’s history, 48 teams will compete in the world’s biggest football tournament, up from the 32-team format in place since France 1998, itself an expansion from 24 teams (1982-1994) and 16 before that.

The three host nations: The US, Mexico and Canada qualified automatically, while the remaining 45 teams earned their spots through a two-year qualifying process across FIFA’s six continental confederations.

The tournament will feature 12 groups of four teams. The top two from each group advance automatically to the knockout stage, joined by the eight best third-placed finishers, meaning 32 of the 48 teams will progress, before a new Round of 32 narrows the field further.

There will be 72 matches during the group stage and 32 in the knockout rounds, for a total of 104 – up from 64 at Qatar 2022. The graphic below shows when each team plays during the group stage.

Use the widget below to find out exactly when your team is playing in your local time.