There are just 365 days until the start of the 2026 World Cup.
The 23rd contest for football’s biggest prize already felt unique, with 104 games and a record 48 teams spread across three host nations, the United States, Canada and Mexico, but it also feels like a tournament with a dizzying number of subplots.
Will North America embrace the sport’s greatest event? Can giants of the game, such as Brazil and Italy, reverse their declining fortunes? Can new superstars emerge, or will the legacies of old ones be underlined? And, most significantly, who will win it?
We assembled an expert panel to debate the big questions.
How positive are you feeling about the tournament?
Adam Crafton: It will be incredible, because knockout football at the highest level always is. The expanded format should guarantee a catalogue of star names — the enduring Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, a new generation, including Lamine Yamal and Desire Doue, and, potentially, belated first-timers such as Erling Haaland.
Oliver Kay: I’ll be honest, I had barely thought about it until about a week ago. Football these days is so all-consuming and non-stop that there’s little space for anticipation. But when I stop to think about it — and I look beyond my gripes with the expanded format and playing it across a continent — it excites me.
Jack Lang: I’m conflicted. It’s a World Cup, so there will be glory, grace and giddiness. The wide geographical canvas of the U.S., Canada and Mexico also appeals after the one-note nature of Qatar 2022. Still, the context of the tournament — political turmoil in the United States, the greed and grandstanding of FIFA president Gianni Infantino — is impossible to ignore.
Melanie Anzidei: The tournament will be a commercial success. There will be record attendance figures and television viewers, and lots of money will be made. But will the matches be accessible? Or will most of them be enjoyed only by those fans who can afford dynamic ticket pricing? The latter feels contradictory to the beautiful game.
Paul Tenorio: The World Cup always delivers. Always. Big tournaments in the U.S. typically deliver, too. The 1994 World Cup remains the best-attended in history. The Copa America tournaments staged here have been successful. This expanded World Cup will be fantastic.
Joshua Kloke: It’s difficult not to feel positive here in Canada. The team has the most talented roster in its history and, with a new coach, Canada is also playing its best football, well, ever. Yes, ballooning costs have become a massive issue that will dog Canada’s two host cities, Vancouver and Toronto. Yet if Canada Soccer does enough to promote its product, many in those cities could also be left with feelings of positivity as well.
Felipe Cardenas: Very positive. The United States isn’t a perfect host country, as evidenced during the 2024 Copa America there, but the World Cup will be an absolute success. It simply doesn’t get any bigger than what’s coming next summer.
What is your biggest concern?
Crafton: I worry that the heat, combined with players’ domestic workloads, could create disappointing performances. The U.S. team are also a concern; they look pretty lost. Off the field, there is no shortage of issues: will the political climate in America deter travelling fans from other countries? Will all the associated costs — flights, hotels, parking, concessions — be extortionate?
Kay: It might end up being chaotic because of the number of games (40 more than before), all the travelling across three host nations, the heat and the enormous number of fans desperate to be at the biggest matches. If Qatar 2022 was a sterile experience off the pitch — and it was — 2026 feels like it could be too intense.
Lang: That FIFA has messed up a winning formula. The old format was perfect in its simplicity. Now we have third-placed teams going through, some group winners arbitrarily getting easier second-round matches, and just massive bloat. There are 72 group matches! I’m sorry, that is too many.
The 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico will feature more matches than ever before – now we know where they will be
Anzidei: Infantino says this will be “the most inclusive tournament ever”. But, as I write this, Los Angeles is entering another day of civil unrest and military intervention over President Donald Trump’s immigration raids in the city. Supporters’ groups in Los Angeles and Nashville staged their own protests separately in recent weeks. How are visitors from around the world expected to feel safe in America when immigrant families who live here don’t?
