On June 11, the 23rd FIFA World Cup will kick off with Mexico facing South Africa at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. This tournament marks the first time that the competition will be co-hosted by 3 countries: the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Spread across 16 cities and featuring 104 matches throughout North America, this World Cup will be one of the largest competitions ever staged.
The United States will host the most matches, with games played in 11 cities across the mainland, from Seattle to the New York metropolitan area. The Canadian cities of Toronto and Vancouver will also host games, while Mexico will host games in the cities of Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey. This year, the World Cup changed its format to 12 groups of 4 teams. In prior years, the tournament consisted of eight groups with 32 teams in total. Now, not only will the top 2 teams in each group advance as in years past, but the top 8 third-place teams will also advance to the knockout stage.
One of the most prominent stories of this year’s World Cup is Italy’s third consecutive absence. Before 2014, Italy had never missed a World Cup, according to NBC. However, since 2014, Italy has failed to qualify for every single qualifier, even in 2026, when FIFA expanded the number of teams in the competition.
The previous world champions, the Argentina National Football Team, return for their 15th consecutive appearance at the competition. As of April 18, Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi still has not confirmed his participation in the World Cup.
“It’s up to him [Messi] to decide [whether to play in 2026]. He’s earned the right to make that decision with peace of mind,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said on March 27.
Messi is widely expected to make this his final World Cup appearance as he approaches his forties, Yahoo Sports reported.
Meanwhile, his longtime teammate on FC Barcelona, Neymar, now 34, has yet to be selected for the Brazilian national team.
According to ESPN, the favorites coming into the tournament include Spain, England and France. All three of these countries have historic soccer programs: France has two titles, and Spain and England have each won the tournament once.
England, a team that has consistently qualified for the tournament, has struggled in recent years, losing to France in the Quarter-finals.
France, on the other hand, features global icons such as Kylian Mbappé of Real Madrid, alongside other young talent. The squad is returning to the tournament after losing to Argentina in the 2022 final.
Spain is also extremely strong with ESPN ranking them in the top 5 teams at the World Cup, featuring one of the world’s best young talents, Lamine Yamal. At just 18 years old, he is already leading Barcelona in goals scored this year with 15. Yamal has risen to fame in the past year, with USA Today labeling him a “phenom.”
Along with these global soccer institutions, the tournament will also include four first-time participants: Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan. These countries look to notch their first wins as the World Cup begins on June 11 and runs until July 19.