Inside the soaring cost of hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup
A previous version of this video included incorrect CAD and MXN monetary figures. A look at 2026 FIFA World Cup costs, revenues and why host cities may see limited financial returns.
Editor’s note: Follow along live for 2026 World Cup opening match and the star-studded opening ceremony!
The 2026 World Cup is already underway with more teams competing than ever before.
This year’s iteration of the quadrennial international soccer tournament features 48 teams for the first time in its 96-year history. The FIFA Council approved the expansion of the tournament from a 32-team to a 48-team field in 2023 and added a new round of 32 to the knockout stages to account for the 16 new teams.
The expansion, which is debuting at the World Cup this year, marks the first change in the tournament’s field size and format structure since an expansion from 24 to 32 teams in 1998. The 48 qualifying teams will begin the tournament in 12 groups of four – up from eight groups of four in previous years – with the top two teams from each group and the eight best third-place teams moving on to the round-of-32 knockout stage.
With so many additional teams in this year’s World Cup, the tournament will feature 40 more total matches than it did in previous years – up to 104 from 64 – and the final four teams will play through eight matches rather than seven.
Here’s a full list of the 48 teams that qualified for the 2026 World Cup:
2026 World Cup group predictions and previews
Group A (Mexico) | Group B (Canada) | Group C | Group D (United States) | Group E | Group F | Group G | Group H | Group I | Group J | Group K | Group L
World Cup teams: Full list of 48 qualifiers
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Group I
Group J
Group K
Group L
