The 2026 World Cup will be played in North America with games in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
The new World Cup will feature a massive expansion jumping from 32 teams to 48, with 104 matches total, and the tournament being 39 days. The teams will be divided into 12 different groups, with four teams in each.
Group A includes: Czechia, Mexico, South Africa, and South Korea. Group B includes: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Qatar, and Switzerland. Group C includes: Brazil, Haiti, Morocco, Scotland. In Group D, Australia, Paraguay, Turkiye, and the USA. In Group E, Curacao, Ecuador, Germany, and Ivory Coast. Group F includes: Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, and Tunisia. Group G includes: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, and New Zealand. In Group H, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Uruguay. Group I includes: France, Iraq, Norway, and Senegal. Group J includes: Algeria, Argentina, Austria, and Jordan. Group K includes: Colombia, DR Congo, Portugal, and Uzbekistan. Lastly Group L includes: Croatia, England, Ghana, and Panama. New teams making their first appearance are Cabo Verde, Curacao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan. The top five countries with the highest odds to win are: Spain, France, England, Brazil, and Argentina.
In other news, there have been some notable injuries before the tournament. For example, French striker from Liverpool, Hugo Ekitike, was expected to start for France in his first World Cup, but unfortunately ruptured his achilles against Paris-Saint Germain in late April. Rodrygo, the brazilian winger for Real Madrid was another notable injury, with him missing out on the World Cup with a torn ACL. Xavi Simons, the Dutch midfielder from Tottenham. will be missing because of his ruptured ACL on April 25 against Wolverhampton. Lastly, Estevao, the young Brazilian forward for Chelsea has made a name for himself as a 19-year-old transfer, scoring eight goals and three assists. He has sustained a hamstring injury and his 25/26 season with Chelsea is over, but he could still be called up for the Brazilian National Team, making his World Cup dreams possible at such a young age.
Many players have arisen from these international tournaments, such as Enzo Fernadez, Lamine Yamal, Cody Gakpo, Dani Olmo, Xavi Simons, Georges Mikauatadze, and more. Most of the world is ready to see what’s going to happen in one of the biggest sports tournaments in the world, and who is going to shine bright in the heavy spotlight.
