The World Cup will be held in three countries (USA, Mexico and Canada) for the first time, and the International Football Federation (FIFA) has announced the schedule of the competition and the stadium where the final will be held in 2026.

World Cup trophyPhoto: dpa picture alliance / Alamy / Alamy / Profimedia

The final of the 2026 World Cup will be held at MetLife Stadium in New York

So, the opening ceremony and the debut match of the competition will be held at the legendary Azteca Stadium in Ciudad de Mexico (June 11), and the grand final will be held at the MetLife Stadium in New York (July 19).

“The fan experience will be incredible,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino promised during a televised ceremony in Miami. He expressed hope that “six million fans” and “six billion viewers” will watch the final tournament, impressive than ever, writes AFP.

The format of the competition was expanded to 48 teams, up from 32 from the 1998 edition, for a total of 104 matches spread between 16 stadiums from the cities of Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami and New York (USA); Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey (Mexico); Toronto and Vancouver (Canada).

MetLife Stadium, home to the New York Jets and New York Giants football teams, located in East Rutherford, a town on the outskirts of the New York metropolitan area, was preferred over arenas in Dallas and Los Angeles, other candidate cities to host the latter.

Azteca, the “temple” of Mexican football, becomes the first stadium in history to have the honor of hosting the opening match of the World Cup for the third time, after the 1970 and 1986 championships, which saw Pele’s Brazil and Diego Maradona’s Argentina play. crowned world champions.

The semi-finals of the next FIFA World Cup will be held in Dallas and Atlanta, FIFA announced during a ceremony in Miami, in the presence of guests from all over the world: humorist and comedian Kevin Hart, Canadian rapper Drake, star Kim Kardashian or ex-champion of the World Cup Brazil Cafu.

Canada will host its first game in Toronto on June 12 and the United States in Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium on the same day, followed by the second game in Seattle.

The third-place match will take place in Miami, where FIFA has its offices and where Argentine superstar Lionel Messi has been playing for Inter Miami since last year. The 36-year-old captain of the Albiceleste national team, the winner of the previous tournament in Qatar, in December 2022 did not close the door to attend the 2026 World Cup.

Until then, Messi is looking forward to the Copa America, a tournament that this year will be held in the United States from June 20 to July 16, a sort of “pre-World Cup” for the host nation, two years before the big event in 2026.

The 48 national teams that will take part in the 2026 World Cup will be divided into 12 groups of four teams each. The top two teams from each group, as well as the eight best third-placed teams, will advance to the Round of 16, an additional elimination stage introduced at the World Cup, after previously advancing directly to the Round of 16 after the group stage stage , writes Agerpres.

Full schedule of the 2026 FIFA World Cup

Group stage: June 11-27, 2026

16: June 28 – July 3, 2026

Optimal: July 4-7, 2026

Quarters: July 9-11, 2026

Semi-finals: July 14-15, 2026

Grand Final: July 18, 2026

Final: July 19, 2026

What MetLife Stadium in New York looks like: