With less than a week to go until the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the buzz around soccer’s most prestigious tournament is growing.
This month-long spectacle featuring top talent will be the longest and largest event in the tournament’s 96-year history.
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Ahead of the 2026 World Cup, Al Jazeera looks at the top five talking points that matter.
The first three-nation World Cup
From the first edition in 1930 to the last edition in 2022, all men’s World Cups were held by a single host country, with the exception of 2002, when Japan and South Korea co-hosted the tournament.
This year marks the first time that the FIFA World Cup, both men’s and women’s, will be held in three countries: the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
A whopping 104 games will be played over 39 days in 16 stadiums in 16 cities across the Eastern, Western, and Central regions of North America.
The 2030 World Cup will also be held in three countries: Spain, Portugal, and Morocco.
Largest participant pool and additional knockout rounds
The upcoming World Cup will be the largest and most diverse competition to date, with 48 teams participating.
Among them, UEFA (Europe) member states have the most direct quotas (16), followed by CAF (Africa) with nine and AFC (Asia) with eight.
As the number of teams increases, so does the number of matches, so additional phases are added.
For the first time in World Cup history, the teams that make it through the group stage will begin the final tournament with round of 32 matches.
This year’s World Cup winners will need to play eight games to win the title, one more than the seven games Argentina won to win the World Cup in Qatar four years ago.
NFL-style halftime show for the finals
This year’s World Cup has a distinctly North American feel.
For the first time ever, a soccer World Cup final will feature a halftime show inspired by the NFL’s Super Bowl.
Fireworks will light up the New York skyline as the pop party begins on July 19th at MetLife Stadium.
K-pop supergroup BTS, Madonna and Colombian star Shakira will co-headline the show, while British rock band Coldplay’s lead singer Chris Martin will curate the halftime show, which will reportedly be 11 minutes long.
This is not the first time that American football’s influence has permeated what people call “soccer” in the United States. The halftime final show for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final between Chelsea and PSG was also held at the same venue, with performances by rapper Doja Cat and singer J Balvin.
beautiful kits
The excitement for this year’s World Cup first started when the teams’ uniforms were unveiled in late March.
Sportswear giant Adidas’ jerseys have emerged as people’s favorites thanks to some beautiful designs. From the concentric rib pattern that runs through Japan’s bright blue home kit, to Curacao’s lemon yellow away shirt, which takes inspiration from the colorful buildings in the island’s capital Willemstad.
Also look out for Argentina’s black and blue away kit, which features a filleteade folk art style, France’s dark blue home kit with a pure white collar, and South Africa’s lush gold and forest green away kit, decorated with vertical stripes made up of a hand-drawn tile pattern of triangles.
New pre-game ceremony
Just one week before the opening match, FIFA announced a new pre-match ceremony.
Before a World Cup match begins, the starting eleven as well as all players on the match day team line up around the center circle and the national anthem is played.
The ceremony, described by FIFA as “turning the stadium into a shared stage”, will feature oversized national flag banners and players will enter the pitch through a purpose-built arch closest to the tunnel.
“No matter where supporters are seated, each will have a unique and engaging perspective, with oversized national flag banners and on-pitch elements carefully positioned to engage the crowd in an authentic and meaningful way,” FIFA said.
The following is an example of the pre-match ceremony for the tournament’s opening game, Mexico vs. South Africa, to be held at Mexico City Stadium on June 11.
