It doesn’t seem like it was 4 years ago that Argentina were winning the World Cup and bringing Leo Messi his last piece of team hardware to cement his immortality as one of soccer’s all-time kings. Yet, here we are with another edition of the world’s biggest sporting tournament. And while he’ll turn 39 years old during the second week of the festivities and has been on a semi-retirement gig with Inter Miami CF in MLS, Messi returns for another chance at glory despite leading everyone to believe 2022 was his last go.

It’s time to preview the 2026 World Cup!

When:

June 11, 2026 through July 19, 2026

This isn’t a short tournament and with an expanded format (more on this below) there is more soccer than ever to pack into the summer showcase. There’s going to be so much content!

The World Cup kicks off at 3:00 PM ET on Thursday, June 11th with the group stages concluding on Saturday, June 27th. The top 2 teams in each group of 4 countries will advance, in addition to the 8 best third place teams, to create a new round of 32 beginning on Sunday, June 28th that will begin the knockout games. The tie-breakers for the third place teams will be: points, goal differential, goals scored, team conduct score (fewest amount of yellow/red cards), and FIFA team ranking. Teams will have to play really poorly not to advance beyond the initial group stage.

In total, the 2026 World Cup increases from 64 games in the past to an incredible 104 games played in total. For reference, the very first World Cup back in 1930 featured 13 nations and only 18 matches total.

Where:

Canada, Mexico, and the United States

If you haven’t heard yet, the World Cup is invading the United States plus Mexico and Canada as well. During the selection process only countries from North America, Africa, South America, or Oceania were allowed to bid, due to the previous hosting nations and the bylaws avoiding bids to the same regions. FIFA changed the rules around multiple countries co-hosting the tournament and during the 2018 Congress held in Moscow the “United” bid from the US/Canada/Mexico won comfortably over Morocco.

16 stadiums sprinkled across the Americas. 

Rather surprisingly, none of the stadiums used during the 1994 World Cup held in the United States will be used to host games during this 2026 World Cup. That includes the Rose Bowl, rather surprisingly. Other cities who were excluded from hosting include Chicago, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Austin, Las Vegas, Orlando, Washington, D.C., Indianapolis, Detroit, Denver, Montreal, and Ottawa–although a few places (like Chicago) did pull out from hosting for various reasons.

Due to FIFA sponsorship rules, the normal stadium names won’t be used in official World Cup communications. So, the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey will be officially called and branded the “New York New Jersey Stadium” and that is also the host spot for the World Cup Final on Sunday, July 19th.

Television:

Fox/Fox Sports/Telemundo/Universo

Fox continues its stranglehold over World Cup soccer broadcasting in the United States. This will be the 3rd World Cup in a row broadcast by Fox after the ABC/ESPN duo handled the World Cup games going back to 1994.

Fox will televise 70 of the games in English within the United States and push the other 34 matches to Fox Sports.

FULL WORLD CUP TV SCHEDULE CLICK HERE

All matches will also be streamed on the Fox Sports App and Fox One platform.

In the studio, the analysts will include former American soccer stars Alexi Lalas, Carli Lloyd, Clint Dempsey, and Maurice Edu. Additionally, international stars like Thierry Henry, Zlatan Ibrahimović, and Clarence Seedorf will be a part of the coverage with Rob Stone and Rebecca Lowe on hosting duties.

Who’s (Not) Here

Imagine not qualifying for this swollen and expanded World Cup! The United States didn’t qualify for the 2018 tournament but did make the round of 16 last time out in Qatar in 2022. For Italy, the pain continues as the Azzurri have missed their 3rd(!!) straight World Cup. In UEFA Playoff Qualifying Group B, Italy lost a shootout 4-1 to Bosnia and Herzegovina and will stay home again.

Mamma mia!

The highest ranked teams in the current FIFA rankings to miss the World Cup include:

Italy (12th)
Denmark (20th)
Nigeria (26th)
Ukraine (32nd)
Poland (35th)
Russia (36th, BANNED)
Serbia (37th)
Hungary (39th)

Nigeria has been one of the most visible and popular African countries in recent years but lost their CAF playoff final to the Democratic Republic of Congo 4-3 on penalty kicks. Qualification was especially competitive in Europe where Denmark (round of 16 in 2018) and Poland (round of 16 in 2022) won’t be participating.

The smallest nations to qualify include Curaçao (~156,000 residents) and Cape Verde (~525,000 residents). While the United States is the largest country in the World Cup by population, that makes Curaçao roughly the same size as America’s 175th largest city Sunnyvale, California.

The Groups

Twelve groups! Due to the watered down nature of the tournament it’s difficult to pinpoint any group of death, particularly when there are some really, really low ranked teams involved and bigger nations are going to have to be a clown car of strategy and motivation not to advance. For example, the trio of Germany (10th), Ivory Coast (34th), and Ecuador (23rd) in Group E is a tough battle but they might beat Curaçao (82nd) by a combined 12 goals and all easily move on.

Never before have the group stages meant less. 

Our neighbors to the north probably got the friendliest draw of the entire World Cup, though. From a standpoint of not having an easy games heading into the tournament, I think group F is looking pretty rough for everyone involved. Everyone in that group sits inside the FIFA top 50 team rankings and it could be one where a third best team isn’t making it to the next round.

A reminder that only the 4 worst teams finishing in 3rd place within their group are going home.

United States Preview

With the World Cup taking place in their home country, we won’t have to watch morning and lunch time games. However, during the group stages the Americans are staying out west and will be playing two games pretty late for those of us in the Eastern time zone.

Former Spurs, PSG, and Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has been in charge of the USMNT for a little over a year and a half. As a host nation, there hasn’t been a ton of pressure without the World Cup qualifying hanging over the program’s head leading into 2026. The team did make the Gold Cup Final in the summer of 2025, but lost 2-1 to Mexico.

 

The American group stage game and TV times. 

Pochettino named the squad officially on May 26th although there is a larger, private provisional squad of up to 55 players who can replace injured athletes during the tournament, according to FIFA rules.

Goalkeepers – Veteran Matt Turner (on loan with New England from Lyon) led the team during the last World Cup but 27-year old Matt Freese (NYCFC) has been favored under Pochettino and looks ready to start this summer.

Defenders – Chris Richards (Crystal Palace) tore two ankle ligaments in his club’s penultimate league game in mid-May but is expected to run the back alongside 38-year old Tim Ream (Charlotte). Pochettino went defensive heavy with 3 more center backs named to the team, plus a couple fullbacks who can play centrally if needed, but expect a heavy dose of Richards and Ream–the latter also named team captain.

Fullback – These positions have looked locked in with Antonee Robinson (Fulham) and Sergino Dest (PSV) starting on the left and right sides, respectively. Max Arfsten (Columbus) could also see a ton of minutes.

Midfield – Pochettino has welcomed controversy by not bringing many traditional midfielders of the ball-winning variety, but also in who was left home as we’ll get to below. It looks like the U.S. will be relying on Tyler Adams (Bournemouth) and Weston McKennie (Juventus) for so much in this World Cup. An injury to one of them would be disastrous.

Injured players can be replaced. 

Wingers/Attackers – Four players were locked in and expected to make the roster, led by Christian Pulisic (AC Milan). Alejandro Zendejas (Club America) was a surprise pick, as was the controversial Gio Reyna (Borussia Monchengladbach) who was nearly sent home during the last World Cup and hasn’t excelled in Germany this year.

Strikers – Folarin Balogun (Monaco) leads the striker group and is making his World Cup debut after switching his international registration from England to the United States back in 2023. He’s had a very good club season (18 goals for club in 2025-26) and will be backed up by Haji Wright (Coventry City, 45 goals the last 3 years in the Championship) and Ricardo Pepi (PSV, 34 goals the last 3 years in the Eredivisie).

The list of USMNT World Cup roster snubs:

FW Josh Sargent – With 29 caps to his name and an impressive 56 goals with Norwich in recent seasons, Sargent made a drawn out and expensive transfer to Toronto FC this winter. Then, he picked up a thigh injury and only recently has made it back to fitness in the MLS.

CM Johnny Cardoso – With 23 caps, Cardoso made a move to Atletico Madrid this season and had been blossoming into a very good midfielder. However, he suffered an ankle injury in practice and had surgery last month, ruling him out of the World Cup.

CM Aidan Morris – With 14 caps for the United States, Morris has been impressing with Middlesborough for the past 2 seasons and being left off the World Cup roster was a surprise given his work rate and ball-winning ability.

CM Tanner Tessmann – Due to the Cardoso injury, Tessmann seemed like a lock for the World Cup roster. With 14 caps, Tessmann was definitely a head scratching snub whose been a fixture in 2025-26 United States games and playing well for Lyon in Ligue 1. His season in France was cut short due to a muscle injury but Tessmann was expected to be healthy for the World Cup.

FW Diego Luna – If Tessmann being left off was a shock, it’s maybe worse for Luna who has exploded onto the international scene with 17 caps in 2025 for the United States. He’d been a fixture of World Cup advertising across the country and has been a dangerous forward for Real Salt Lake for the past few seasons. He did pick up an injury but had been playing in MLS for the past 6 weeks before the World Cup break.

Best & Worst Kits

With so many nations participating we have some unique apparel brands supplying kits during this World Cup. A few of which, I’ve never heard of in my life. Kelme is a Spanish brand. Saeta is Colombian and Jako is German. However, as per usual Adidas, Nike, and Puma rule the world market when it comes to kit suppliers in soccer.

Where is Under Armour?

With the home kits reserved for tradition and not a lot of change each World Cup cycle, we mainly have a focus today on away kits. A few teams have third kits available for this summer, although none of those made either of my lists. Now for the best…

Curaçao Away – This one is already being discussed as a collector’s favorite. The soft pastel yellow looks so nice and is even better that the team is wearing the matching shorts and socks.

France Away – Normally France comes with one of the best home kits in the world. For this World Cup, it’s nice but not quite A+ for me. However, this bright mint away kit with metallic gold accents is so sharp.

Germany Home – In a bit of heresy, German is ditching Adidas and switching to Nike in 2027. Despite that, Adidas came with this excellent 1990-esque throwback kit as a last goodbye.

 

South Korea Away – Officially this shirt is using colors called Space Purple, Amethyst Tint, Global Blue, and Light Liquid Lime. They’ll pair this with lavender shorts and socks, too. So nice!

Netherlands Away – This might not be the top shirt on its own but the Dutch are wearing orange shorts with white socks and as a total package this entire kit really pops nicely.

Uruguay Away – This is my pick for the shirt that will become the most memorable from the World Cup if Uruguay can advance into the later rounds.

Now for the worst kits…

Haiti Away – Holy crap, what an embarrassment. This is a bad render, too. The sleeves and flag thing down at the bottom are actually a much darker gray in real life.

Turkey Home – Zero effort on this one, including slapping a giant flag in the middle of the chest. This looks like it was made in MS Paint in 2 minutes.

 

Qatar Away – This is a plain white kit with Adidas stripes and the country soccer logo. If Turkey was zero effort, this was negative effort from everyone involved.

Belgium Away – A bold design here that makes me think of Tame Impala’s Currents album. It’s going to look like cotton candy from afar. Bold yes, but also bad.

Argentina Away – This one has divided opinion. The pattern is just too much, it’s too large and dominates the kit to an extreme degree.

Top 6 Storylines

#1 Expansion from 32 to 48

College football is trying to expand the playoff again, the NCAA basketball tournament just approved the addition of 8 more teams into the postseason field, and the World Cup is bracing itself for the first tournament expansion in 28 years after moving to 32 teams back in 1998. Is the 50% jump too large? Or, will the increase in globalization and more small countries competing actually endear the tournament to fans?

Soccer is a sport where blowouts aren’t as easy as other sports so I think an expansion won’t be a disaster from a competitive standpoint. Plus, look at a team like Cape Verde. They have 8 wins, 3 losses, and 1 draw since 2025 in the lead up to the World Cup with victories over Angola, Cameroon, and Finland. That’s pretty damn good!

#2 Hosting & Prices

The general vibe leading up to this World Cup has been not great, to put it mildly. It’s certainly far different than the run up to the 1994 tournament when soccer truly started to turn a corner in the American consciousness. Ticket prices have been falling rapidly in the leadup to kickoff but were set so extremely high as to bake in anxiety and indecision for fans to travel all over North America for the biggest World Cup in terms of games played in history.

Reports of empty hotels and unexpected losses have been common, although FIFA will probably figure out a way to still make a boat load of money and get people in seats. They’ll be hoping for no other issues, political or otherwise, but international travel into and out of the United States could cause numerous headaches or worse.

#3 New Champion

This is the 23rd World Cup and the list of nations to take home the golden globe trophy is still quite small. Four countries including Brazil (five), Germany (four), Italy (four), and Argentina (three) have won almost three-quarters of the tournaments, while France and Uruguay have also won the World Cup twice.

Will we see a nation win it for the very first time?

Portugal, Netherlands, and Belgium are European nations with high standards and worth a shout. Morocco and Colombia are non-blue bloods who have a history of winning big games. Of course, either Mexico or the United States winning would be utterly nuts.

#4 Mbappe Chasing the Goals Record

Now 27 years old and in his prime, Kylian Mbappe has been on the French National Team since 2017 and will be entering his 3rd World Cup appearance. Since France won the tournament back in 2018 and made the final in 2022, Mbappe has already played 14 World Cup games and sits on 12 goals, including a hat trick in that 2022 finals loss to Argentina.

He’s pretty good.

German striker Miroslav Klose holds the World Cup record with 16 goals which he did across 4 tournaments and 24 total games. Assuming France advances and Mbappe pops a couple goals in the group stages, the latter half of the tournament will see intense coverage of him chasing this record.

#5 Ronaldo/Messi Last Dance

Surely, this will be the last World Cup for Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. A record 13 Ballon d’Or awards between them, 2022 was supposed to be Messi’s final international tournament for Argentina but he’s back, while Ronaldo, who’s won nearly every trophy he’s competed for including a recent Saudi Pro League title, is still chasing an elusive World Cup.

#6 Yamal Superstardom

When the last World Cup kicked off, Lamine Yamal was a 15-year old finishing up his tenure with Barcelona’s youth academy La Masia and for the 2023-24 began his quick rise to the top of club and international soccer. Still just 18, he’s won 3 La Liga titles, is the youngest player ever nominated for a Ballon d’Or award, and has netted 42 goals already in his club career for Barcelona.

Yamal won’t be playing in Spain’s first 2 matches.

Yamal already has 24 appearances with Spain and is coming off being a part of the 2024 European Championship squad. However, he’s been dealing with a hamstring injury and hasn’t played since late April. The Spanish federation has come to an agreement with Barcelona not to hurry Yamal back so it’s expected he will not face Cape Verde or Saudi Arabia in their first two World Cup matches but the June 26th showdown vs. Uruguay as his first action.

Who’s Winning?

Outside of the United States, I’m always rooting for Belgium to do well as they’re a country always in the mix but never able to get over the hump in these big tournaments. Their core of the ‘golden generation’ is also really old now. However, they should easily advance from one of the easier groups in the tournament.

I have a friend who is from Ecuador and taking his son to all of their group stage games (June 14th in Philadelphia, June 20th in Kansas City, and June 25th in New Jersey), so I’d like to see them do well. And I think Ecuador is going to be one of this World Cup’s surprise teams.

Late May World Cup odds via DraftKings.

I have a feeling this will be Brazil’s tournament. They don’t come in as one of the tip-top favorites like usual, and for sure this pick is putting a lot of trust in manager Carlo Ancelotti. The former Real Madrid coach just passed the one year mark in control of Brazil so he hasn’t had much time with the program. They also have a key injury to an attacker like Rodrygo and decided to bring the 34 year old kind of washed Neyman on the roster as a distraction.

Maybe this is the memories of 1994 taking over when Brazil won the World Cup on American soil. I think they will do it again.