By Anadolu Agency
June 10, 2026 8:02 amİSTANBUL
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be held for the first time in three countries with 48 teams, will kick off Thursday.
The tournament, hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada, will be held across three countries with 48 teams for the first time.
The tournament will begin with the opening match on June 11 between Mexico and South Africa at Mexico City Stadium, and will conclude at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, near New York City, on July 19, after six weeks of excitement.
A total of 104 matches will be played in 16 stadiums across four different time zones. The US will host 78 matches.
The largest of the 16 stadiums is Dallas Stadium with a capacity of 94,000, while the smallest is in Toronto at 45,000.
For the first time, 10 African countries and eight Arab countries are participating in the World Cup, with four countries being African and Arab.
Among the countries, Morocco is the only one that is located on the African continent and considered an Arab country.
A total of 1,248 players from 48 countries will participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
While 357 players who have been in the World Cup squad at least once have been invited to the tournament, 891 will appear for the first time.
There is an age difference of more than 25 years between the oldest player — Craig Gordon, 43 years and 162 days, from Scotland, and the youngest, Gilberto Mora, 17 years and 240 days, from Mexico.
Twenty-two players under the age of 20 and seven older than 40 were invited to the tournament.
Additionally, 22 football players who previously won the World Cup championship are returning.
It will be the first time that Africa sends 10 teams to the World Cup. The increase in African nations comes as part of FIFA’s expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams.
Senegal, Morocco, Egypt, Ghana, Algeria, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Cape Verde, South Africa, and the Democratic Republic of Congo will get a chance for glory.
Eight Arab sides booked spots
For the first time in history, eight Arab teams will play in the tournament.
The 2026 World Cup will feature Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.
Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 each featured four Arab sides, which was considered a major achievement at the time.
Iran’s participation in the World Cup, given its war with the US, remains a topic of discussion.
FIFA rejected Iran’s requests to move its group matches to Mexico or Canada, stating that the matches must be played as planned in American cities
2026 World Cup will be held with 48 teams instead of 32, compared to previous years.
With the increase in the number of participants, Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan will compete for the first time in their histories.
The main host country, the US, will face Türkiye, Paraguay and Australia in Group D.
Having participated in the tournament 11 times since the first World Cup in 1930, the US secured direct qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup as one of the three host nations.
High ticket prices, accommodation costs, long flight times and travel expenses have made the current World Cup a challenging tournament for fans.
FIFA’s decision to organize the tournament in three North American countries will potentially cause fans to travel thousands of kilometers by plane.
The Mexico City Stadium, with a capacity of 83,000, and bearing the name of the Mexican capital, will go down in history as the first stadium to host the opening match of the World Cup three times.
Mexico City Stadium previously hosted the opening matches of the 1970 World Cup between Mexico and the Soviet Union, which ended in a scoreless draw, and the 1986 World Cup between Italy and Bulgaria, which also ended in a draw of 1-1.
The stadium, where Brazilian football legend Pele lifted the trophy in 1970 and Argentinian Maradona scored the “goal of the century” in 1986, will host the opening match of the 2026 World Cup between Mexico and South Africa.
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