With less than six months to go until the FIFA World Cup 2026, the schedule for the 39-day tournament co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States has been released.Widely considered the most famous sporting event in the world, the 2026 edition of the FIFA World Cup will be its biggest ever, with 48 nations participating instead of the usual 32 and with 104 matches to be played in the 16 venues across the three host nations.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listArgentina will look to defend the trophy they lifted under their iconic captain, Lionel Messi, at Qatar 2022, while Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan will make their debut at the finals.The tournament will begin in Mexico and wrap up in the US.Here’s everything you need to know about its teams, groups, format and schedule.What are the groups for the FIFA World Cup 2026?Group A:
Mexico
South Korea
South Africa
Denmark/Macedonia/Czechia/Ireland
Group B:
Canada
Switzerland
Qatar
Italy/Northern Ireland/Wales/Bosnia
Group C:
Brazil
Morocco
Scotland
Haiti
Group D:
USA
Australia
Paraguay
Turkiye/Romania/Slovakia/Kosovo
Group E:
Germany
Ecuador
Ivory Coast
Curacao
Group F:
Netherlands
Japan
Tunisia
Ukraine/Sweden/Poland/Albania
Group G:
Belgium
Iran
Egypt
New Zealand
Group H:
Spain
Uruguay
Saudi Arabia
Cape Verde
Group I:
France
Senegal
Norway
Iraq/Bolivia/Suriname
Group J:
Argentina
Austria
Algeria
Jordan
Group K:
Portugal
Colombia
Uzbekistan
DRC/Jamaica/New Caledonia
Group L:
England
Croatia
Panama
Ghana
When and where is the opening match of FIFA World Cup 2026?The tournament will open on June 11 at 3pm (21:00 GMT) at the Mexico City Stadium in Mexico. Advertisement When and where is the final of FIFA World Cup 2026?The MetLife Stadium, which will be called the New York New Jersey Stadium during the tournament, will host the final on July 19 at 3pm (20:00 GMT).Why has FIFA changed the names of the stadiums hosting World Cup matches?In a move to restrict ambush marketing for brands not associated with FIFA, the governing body has changed stadium names for all venues to match with the host city.Therefore, the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey has been rebranded as the New York New Jersey Stadium and the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles has been renamed the Los Angeles Stadium for the tournament.What’s the format of the FIFA World Cup 2026?The tournament will be made up of one group-stage round and four knockout rounds before the final.Unlike previous editions, the knockouts will begin with the round of 32, followed by the round of 16, the four quarterfinals and two semifinals.The stage-wise breakdown of the t …
