With less than a week to go until the FIFA World Cup 2026 begins, the buzz around football’s most prestigious tournament is growing.The monthlong spectacle, featuring the best talent, will be the longest and biggest edition in the tournament’s 96-year history.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listAhead of the 2026 World Cup, Al Jazeera takes a look at the top five key talking points:World Cup across three countries, in a firstAll men’s World Cup editions between 1930, the inaugural tournament, and the last one in 2022, were held in a single host nation, barring 2002 when Japan and South Korea cohosted the tournament.This year marks the first time a FIFA World Cup – men’s or women’s – will be played across three countries: the United States, Mexico and Canada.Sixteen stadiums in 16 cities – spread across the eastern, western and central regions of North America – will host a whopping 104 matches across 39 days.The 2030 World Cup will also be played across three countries: Spain, Portugal and Morocco. The biggest participation pool and an extra knockout roundThe upcoming World Cup will be the biggest and most diverse edition so far, featuring 48 teams.Among those, nations from UEFA (Europe) had the most direct slots (16), followed by CAF (Africa), which had nine and AFC (Asia), eight.More teams also mean more matches, and thus the addition of an extra phase.For the first time in World Cup history, teams that make it past the group stage will begin the knockouts with a round of 32 clash.The World Cup winners this year will have to go through eight games en route to t …
