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Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are taking part in the World Cup for the sixth time
Image: Keystone
Arlington: The 2026 World Cup will take place in 16 cities. Three stadiums each are located in Mexico and Canada, with the rest in the U.S., including the final stadium in New Jersey and the largest arena, with 94,000 seats, in Arlington, near Dallas.
Ball: The official ball is called Trionda, and it will be in play for longer than ever before at a World Cup. From the opening match on June 11 to the final on July 19, 104 matches will take place.
Curaçao: 48 teams are participating, four of which have qualified for the first time: Cape Verde, Jordan, Uzbekistan, and the Caribbean nation of Curaçao, the smallest country ever to compete in World Cup history.
Distances: The 2026 World Cup champion will have covered considerable distances. The southernmost stadium in Mexico City and the northernmost one in Vancouver are over 4,500 kilometers apart, and Miami and Vancouver are another 1,000 kilometers farther apart.
Opening Ceremony: An opening ceremony will take place in each host country: before the opening match between Mexico and South Africa at Azteca Stadium, and the following day in Toronto and Los Angeles. Performing stars include Alanis Morissette, Katy Perry, and Michael Bublé.
Favorites: None of the host nations are among the World Cup favorites. For most bookmakers, Spain and France have the best chances of winning, followed by Argentina, Brazil, and Portugal. Anyone betting on Switzerland to win its first World Cup title could win 80 times their stake.
Golden Boot: Kylian Mbappé won the Golden Boot as the top scorer four years ago with eight goals. Like Lionel Messi, the Frenchman can now even set his sights on Miroslav Klose’s World Cup scoring record (16 goals). To tie the German, Mbappé must score four times, while Messi needs three.
Halftime Show: The final in East Rutherford on July 19 will feature a halftime show—a tradition best known from the Super Bowl—for the first time. Madonna, Shakira, and the South Korean boy band BTS are scheduled to perform.
Infantino: At the heart of soccer’s political power structure stands (still) a man from Valais. Gianni Infantino has been FIFA President for over ten years and is thus the head of the World Cup. By expanding the tournament, he made a few enemies, but many more friends.
Journalists: Around 16,000 media representatives have received accreditation from FIFA for the tournament. This includes journalists, technicians, and photographers. If you count all the people working for the media, the total comes to around 50,000.
Squad: National team coaches were allowed to nominate 26 players for the World Cup. In total, FIFA is covering the travel and living expenses for 50 people from each of the 48 delegations.
Lionel Messi: The Argentine is playing in his sixth World Cup. The same goes for his longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo. In terms of World Cup appearances, Messi leads 26 to 22. Granit Xhaka and Ricardo Rodriguez are participating for the fourth time, tying the Swiss record held by Xherdan Shaqiri and Valon Behrami.
Format: The road to the final weekend is longer this year. The four semifinalists will play a total of eight matches instead of the previous seven; the knockout stage now begins one round earlier, starting with the round of 32.
Nighttime matches: 104 games with a time difference of six to nine hours pose a challenge for European soccer fans. Kickoff times range from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Swiss time. The good news: Like the semifinals and final, all of Switzerland’s group stage matches will kick off at 9:00 p.m.—on June 13 against Qatar, on June 18 against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and on June 24 against Canada.
Ottawa: No World Cup matches will be held in either the Canadian or U.S. capital. The stadiums in Ottawa and Washington, D.C., did not meet the organizers’ criteria. Prior to this, there had only been two instances where the host country’s capital was not also a World Cup venue: Bonn in 1974 and Tokyo in 2002.
Prize money: At $871 million, the total prize money for the upcoming World Cup is nearly twice as high as it was four years ago. The World Champion receives $50 million, the other finalist $33 million. An early exit in the group stage brings $9 million, in addition to the appearance fee of $12.5 million.
Qualification: Four-time World Champion Italy is the tournament’s biggest absentee. For the third time in a row, Gianluigi Donnarumma’s team failed to qualify for the World Cup. Other big names who failed to qualify include Georgia’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Hungary’s Dominik Szoboszlai, Cameroon’s Bryan Mbeumo, Poland’s Robert Lewandowski, and Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen.
Calculations: The top two teams from each group, as well as the eight best of the twelve third-place finishers, advance to the round of 16. There are 495 possible combinations for how the third-place teams will be distributed among the group winners for the first knockout round, listed in the tournament regulations on pages 80 through 97.
Sandro Schärer: For the first time in 16 years, Switzerland is providing a World Cup referee. The 37-year-old Sandro Schärer from Schwyz is one of 52 appointed head referees. Also serving as officials are Fedayi San from Aargau as a video referee and Stéphane de Almeida as a linesman.
Team camp: While the referees are staying in Miami, the Swiss national team has chosen the Fairmont Grand Del Mar Hotel in San Diego as its base. Australia, Austria, the USA, Qatar, Paraguay, and New Zealand are also based in California. The New Zealanders are staying at a hotel just a few kilometers away from the Swiss.
USA: Even though there are three host countries, the USA is the center of attention. The home of American football is hosting eleven of the twelve largest stadiums and is likely to ensure that the record average attendance from the 1994 World Cup (68,991) is broken.
Caution: As in previous World Cups, a player is suspended for the next match after receiving two cautions. Yellow cards are reset after the group stage and after the quarterfinals.
World Cup Trophy: The current trophy, depicting two soccer players holding a globe together, has been awarded since 1974. It was designed by Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga. The original, which is kept at the FIFA Museum in Zurich, is worth a good 400,000 Swiss francs. The winners receive a bronze replica.
XXL Tournament: With 48 teams, the World Cup tournament deserves the designation XXL. However, there could soon be even more participants. Gianni Infantino is among those advocating for a World Cup with 64 teams.
Yakin: For the second time, Switzerland is heading to a World Cup with Murat Yakin as head coach. With nearly five years in the role, Yakin ranks among the top 10 longest-serving World Cup coaches. The clear number one in this regard is France’s Didier Deschamps, who has been in the role for nearly 14 years.
Zayu: Maple, Zayu, and Clutch are the tournament’s mascots. Maple is a Canadian moose, Zayu is a Mexican jaguar, and Clutch is an American bald eagle.
Where are the games being played, what kind of ball is used, and what’s the prize money? The ABCs of the World Cup kickoff, so you’re fully prepared for the next six weeks.
10.06.2026, 05:01
11.06.2026, 08:38