FIFA has confirmed the 16 cities across the U.S.A, Canada, and Mexico that will host the FIFA 2026 World Cup. There will be 11 US Cities, 2 Canadian cities, and 3 from Mexico. From the U.S we have; New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, Seattle, San Francisco/Bay Area, and Los Angeles/SoFi Stadium. Vancouver and Toronto will host the tournament from the Canadian side and from the Mexican side we have Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey. The global showpiece was awarded to the North American nations and CONCACAF in 2018 seeing off a strong bid from Morocco who had put up a spirited fight. 

It will be the first World Cup hosted by more than two nations since the 2002 edition when South Korea and Japan shared the honors. It is worth noting that this is indeed the first tournament to be hosted by a total of three countries. The U.S.A will be hosting for the second time after hosting the 1994 edition while Mexico will make history as the first nation to host or co-host for the third time following the 1970 edition and 1986 edition. Canada will be hosting for the first time but it did host the Women's World Cup back in 2015. It will be the first World Cup to boast 48 qualified teams after the FIFA 2017 vote that is set to be implemented from the 2026 edition. It has been the standard for the tournament to have 32 teams ever since the 1998 edition. 

In the 2026 World Cup, a new format will be adopted. There will be 16 groups comprising 3 teams each. The top 2 from each group will advance to an elimination round of 32. This will be followed by a knockout round of 16 matches before proceeding to the quarter-finals, then the semi-finals, and finally the tournament will be wrapped up by a final match to decide the champion. The losing teams in the semi-finals will play a 3rd place playoff. The 80 matches to be played in the 2026 World Cup will be spread across 20 venues with the U.S.A hosting 60 of those games. The quarters, semis, and the final will all be played in the U.S.A. The venues were announced in New York City on Thursday and they are divided into three regions; the eastern region, the central region, and the western region. All focus, however, is on the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup that is set to happen from November 21st to December 18th. The first game of the tournament will be between Senegal and the Netherlands at the Al Thumama Stadium followed by England vs Iran at the Al Rayyan Stadium before the host nation Qatar takes on Ecuador at the Al Bayt Stadium.