FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread

[FatFork]

Seems quite a large figure because in one country, there many teams/clubs. But in the upcoming FIFA World Cup, we will have a new format because this time, 48 teams will play and it will be a much longer event compared to the recent World Cups that we have witnessed. As per speculations, we can say that there are some disadvantages and advantages but we will be more certain about those things after witnessing another World Cup that will be introducing a new format.

Yes, the 2026 Tournament is expected to last between 38 and 40 days, which is certainly an increase compared to previous tournaments. This was to be expected since a total of 104 matches will be played, compared to the 64 we witnessed before. I suppose that's one of the positives from a spectator's perspective because we'll be able to enjoy the entire event for longer. However, it also means more revenue for FIFA from live rights, sponsorships, and advertising. I believe that's probably the primary purpose behind these changes.

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[Sithara007]

Yes, the 2026 Tournament is expected to last between 38 and 40 days, which is certainly an increase compared to previous tournaments. This was to be expected since a total of 104 matches will be played, compared to the 64 we witnessed before. I suppose that's one of the positives from a spectator's perspective because we'll be able to enjoy the entire event for longer. However, it also means more revenue for FIFA from live rights, sponsorships, and advertising. I believe that's probably the primary purpose behind these changes.

FIFA was in desperate need to increase the total revenues and they only had two options - either keep the format of 32 participants and conduct the world cup every two years, or conduct the world cup every 4 years with 48 participants. I guess they chose the second option, as the majority of the members preferred it. I have seen a lot of users here criticizing that decision, but I am sure that the majority of the fans are in favor of an extended tournament with larger number of participants. At least that is the hint that I get when I talk to my friends. 

[Leviathan.007]

With the increase on the number of teams I do not think FIFA has too much of a choice, the amount of money needed to organize the tournament has gone up while the logistic issues have scaled up as well, so it seems to me that the right decision was to let more than one country to host the world cup, what it must never happen again is to allow a country or a group of countries to buy the world cup, which is exactly what Qatar and probably Russia did before.

That doesn't matter by increasing the number of countries hosting the World Cup or countries being able to do it together, but there shouldn't be more than two countries because it will affect the number of countries that have the opportunity to qualify, because the host country will get automatic participation in the world cup later. If there are only two organizers, it will be easier to divide the portion of the matches for each country, each will get the same number of matches, one as the opening and the other as the closing, but FIFA always has an excuse because they are the organization with the power to regulate this, but if the 2030 World Cup organizers are won by 4 countries from the Americas how unpleasant that would be because it reduces the chances of other countries in CONMEBOL qualifying for the World Cup.

I have to admit that it all makes no sense to me anymore.
Once upon a time, we had world cups with only 16 national teams and only 1 host.
In a few years we will have a world cup with 48 national teams and 3 hosts, and I would not be surprised if in 2030 FIFA organizes a world cup with 64 national teams and 4 hosts.
Obviously, FIFA no longer cares about football but only about making money, so maybe in 20 or 30 years we won't have qualifications for the World Cup at all because all the national teams of the world will have the right to participate 
I'm almost certain we'll have a world cup every 2 years soon.
All together this no longer makes sense.

A world cup every two years is probably coming, however I do not think FIFA will ever get rid of the qualifiers, the qualifiers themselves take 18 months to 24 months to take place and there are way more games during the qualifiers than during the world cup, and as such they are another important source of income for FIFA and the rest of the federations, however I really think FIFA is abusing its power and the more they do it the higher the chances some players will begin to boycott the qualifiers and even the world cup, as they are exhausted already with the high number of games they need to play each year and they will be unable to deal with the additional number of games a world cup every two years would entail.

We already talking about having the world cup every two or three years instead of fours years and we all know if you see the world cup in a shorter period of time you won't have an interest to watch the games anymore because one good reason for people to have interest on watching the world cup is mostly that they have to wait fours years and get themselves ready for it which can increase the interest.

I can somewhat agree with you. Actually FIFA football world cup is held after four years is very patience. As football fans are now addicted to football, FIFA can host the World Cup every two years if they want, because every country is now economically self-sufficient.

I think that people will not even watch the games on television, so I think that changing some rules just like this one will have a negative effect on the quality of the world cup, because they will not have to wait four years for it. This is why I believe that changing some rules just like this one will have a negative impact on the quality of the world cup.

[LUCKMCFLY]

Yeah, one of the important things about the world cup is that it's held only every 4 years.

If it's done every year then it would be similar to other, less prestigious competitions.

The fact that you have to wait 4 years for it makes it an important event.

Also, professional players usually only get to play in maybe one or two world cups in their career, also making this a lifetime achievement.

I somewhat agree with the suggestion that the FIFA World Cup should be played only once every 4 years. I can understand the concern that international matches are getting overshadowed by club competitions nowadays. But the players prefer club matches, because they get the vast majority of their salary from the clubs. If they are forced to play more international matches, then many of these players will just retire from the national team and will focus on the league matches. Still we have a number of international competitions apart from the world cup, such as FIFA Confederations Cup, Olympics football competition, as well as regional competitions such as the Copa América and Euro Cup.

I think that all the excitement of this is that it is done as always, every 4 years, so there is no kind of boredom for people, the fact of waiting 4 years makes many prepare more eagerly, because they know that a World Cup is a very special event, the best in the world for me, so if a team prepares to win and be in a World Cup, they have to go through the qualifiers very well, there is no other way, now what I like is that the quotas have increased, because that way more teams that are very good and that It doesn't happen, well they can do it with that new rule, but doing it every year is something that doesn't look good, I think nobody would like it.

I think that we, who are great soccer fans, would not like an event like this to take place every year or every 2 years, I think that the longest I would put up with it being brought forward would be every 3 years, it seems good to me, because in 2 years we can do the qualifying rounds, and also now it is becoming more interesting because more slots for the World Cup have opened up and this makes things more interesting, especially for the teams of nations that have never been to a World Cup.

Personally, my Venezuela would like to see it in a World Cup, I would also like to see India in a World Cup, they are teams that play interesting football, but have not yet been in shape to arrive, I hope that this World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada can achieve it, but they still have to work very hard, at least in South America the teams are very strong, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Colombia, they are very football-loving countries and they are also very strong with players who mostly play for recognized teams in Europe.

[Sithara007]

Personally, my Venezuela would like to see it in a World Cup, I would also like to see India in a World Cup, they are teams that play interesting football, but have not yet been in shape to arrive, I hope that this World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada can achieve it, but they still have to work very hard, at least in South America the teams are very strong, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Colombia, they are very football-loving countries and they are also very strong with players who mostly play for recognized teams in Europe.

LOL.. If Venezuela was playing in any other confederation, then they would have been a regular participant in the world cup. Unfortunately for them, they play in the toughest confederation (CONMEBOL), and therefore always always miss out on the qualification. This is why I was in favor of selecting a few teams from a second round of qualifier, which would include teams from different confederations (I am not taking about the inter-continental playoffs). Now coming to China and India, I think the only possible way to get them included in the world cup might be through qualification as hosts.

[Strongkored]

I think that we, who are great soccer fans, would not like an event like this to take place every year or every 2 years, I think that the longest I would put up with it being brought forward would be every 3 years, it seems good to me, because in 2 years we can do the qualifying rounds, and also now it is becoming more interesting because more slots for the World Cup have opened up and this makes things more interesting, especially for the teams of nations that have never been to a World Cup.

The faster and the major tournament that also involves many participants is held, it is very likely that the quality of the match will decrease because the players are also quite busy with the match schedule at their respective clubs and the possibility for players to get injured during the World Cup match can be detrimental to the club while the players get a salary from the club and what is no less can reduce the quality of the organization, namely the preparation of the host country will be reduced so that it can make the quality of the location used to be according, so there should be no changes regarding the time in organizing the world cup.

Personally, my Venezuela would like to see it in a World Cup, I would also like to see India in a World Cup, they are teams that play interesting football, but have not yet been in shape to arrive, I hope that this World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada can achieve it, but they still have to work very hard, at least in South America the teams are very strong, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Colombia, they are very football-loving countries and they are also very strong with players who mostly play for recognized teams in Europe.

Often these teams like India are only strong or show something interesting under certain circumstances but when they have to compete against teams that often appear in the world cup the situation changes and the matches become unbalanced, this happens because the teams that usually play in the World Cup have experience that can be used as capital and also the draw is very profitable for them compared to teams that only occasionally or have just entered the World Cup, but it does not rule out the possibility of these teams making surprises like what teams from Africa usually do, their appearance is often eagerly awaited because they often become a threat to strong teams.

[Leviathan.007]

Often these teams like India are only strong or show something interesting under certain circumstances but when they have to compete against teams that often appear in the world cup the situation changes and the matches become unbalanced, this happens because the teams that usually play in the World Cup have experience that can be used as capital and also the draw is very profitable for them compared to teams that only occasionally or have just entered the World Cup, but it does not rule out the possibility of these teams making surprises like what teams from Africa usually do, their appearance is often eagerly awaited because they often become a threat to strong teams.

There are many other teams in the same situation and if they were in other confederations they could have more chances to get a ticket for the world cup, most of the countries get less chance in Europe because there are more and stronger competitors for it while in other places like Asia or Africa, this won't be hard for them.

[nullama]

Now that we entered the world of multi-country hosting, the qualifying phase for the rest of the teams in the hosting federation might have a tougher time.

But on the other hand, for example in the 2026 World Cup, the 3 strongest teams of CONCACAF are already qualified (USA, Canada, and Mexico), so that means that this might be a good opportunity for the Central American and Caribbean teams to qualify. Usually CONCACAF has three direct slots plus two play-off slots, but now because of the extra slots they have 6 direct slots so we will probably see more of the Central American and Caribbeans teams!

Interestingly, they also removed the hosting slots:

However, in a change of format from previous World Cups, there would be no dedicated host country slot, with the slots of automatically qualifying host countries now taken from the quota of its confederation.

[KTChampions]

Now that we entered the world of multi-country hosting, the qualifying phase for the rest of the teams in the hosting federation might have a tougher time.

But on the other hand, for example in the 2026 World Cup, the 3 strongest teams of CONCACAF are already qualified (USA, Canada, and Mexico), so that means that this might be a good opportunity for the Central American and Caribbean teams to qualify. Usually CONCACAF has three direct slots plus two play-off slots, but now because of the extra slots they have 6 direct slots so we will probably see more of the Central American and Caribbeans teams!

Interestingly, they also removed the hosting slots:

However, in a change of format from previous World Cups, there would be no dedicated host country slot, with the slots of automatically qualifying host countries now taken from the quota of its confederation.

It turns out that theoretically we can see 8 teams from the CONCACAF zone at the World Cup 2026. Cool! Although I strongly doubt that such teams as El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras or Curosau (in the CONCACAF rankings they are just in the region of 6-8 places) are able to win the intercontinental playoffs. I think the qualification of any of these teams to the final part of the World Cup will be a sensation.

[Leviathan.007]

Now that we entered the world of multi-country hosting, the qualifying phase for the rest of the teams in the hosting federation might have a tougher time.

But on the other hand, for example in the 2026 World Cup, the 3 strongest teams of CONCACAF are already qualified (USA, Canada, and Mexico), so that means that this might be a good opportunity for the Central American and Caribbean teams to qualify. Usually CONCACAF has three direct slots plus two play-off slots, but now because of the extra slots they have 6 direct slots so we will probably see more of the Central American and Caribbeans teams!

Interestingly, they also removed the hosting slots:

However, in a change of format from previous World Cups, there would be no dedicated host country slot, with the slots of automatically qualifying host countries now taken from the quota of its confederation.

A world cup ticket for three countries means that other American teams have a much greater chance of qualifying for the world cup than the three countries that have already been allocated. However, since three spots are already reserved, I guess some countries are supposed to get tickets for the world cup since normally they will not be able to compete, which is the negative aspect of this situation.

[LUCKMCFLY]

Now things for the Argentine star are going to change much more , at Inter Miami things are not as Stressful as in Europe , things can look bad for many , but you also have to think about your well-being as a person and for your family , things can Change from one moment to another and everything is going for a better path.

Yes also but a lot of people here, maybe you dont know but Miami its the main city of the "Latinos", mayority of caribeans countries like Cuba, Mexico , Venezuela , Colombia, but also from the 80 a lot of Argentinians are living and investing there, some of the most famous celebrities after retirement always go to Miami from thei holidays so he its gonna be ina  much more friendly side.

Well, if you're right, what you mean is very logical, I don't know if this is an incentive for Messi or if it becomes a shadow for him, anyway, wherever he goes he will attract attention and things can change a lot, but from the point of view that he said, I said it, he spent two years where he did not see happiness, obviously he was referring to the PSG club, that was something he said openly in his language, and that was recorded, that means that he was not at all comfortable in France, so when comparing the US and Arabia, he chose the US perhaps because he saw it as more accessible and without as many rules as a country like the Arabs can be.

And well, we all know how his debut was, in fact even Kardashian herself went to see his debut, and other celebrities, and the free-kick goal was something unique, for me Messi can change the MLS League, just as CR7 is changing the Saudi, in retrospect if the MLS league had a higher rank in soccer it would be something great, I don't deny that there are very good players, but they have to do really strong things at their level I didn't go down when he was going to play in his national team, although Messi already said he was not going anymore, but it's a total shame, I think we all want to see Messi once again in the World Cup.

In this World Cup things can look different, because if Messi manages to convince him, we could see a World Cup again with great emotions, maybe that clash between Portugal and Argentina can happen, with a Messi vs CR7, I think we still deserve to see this type of match between two legends.

[Rockstarguy]

The Brazil team can do great things in the next World Cup. Because some of the young players in this team are currently performing exceptionally well, these players will have tremendous experience when the next World Cup comes around.

Brazil is expected to do well in every world Cup tournament because they have already good records as one of tge best team. Brazil as a team Has quality players that can always come out with good performance and it is very sure in the coming world Cup their performance won't be bad even if they are not able to win the league.  Brazil performance is always interesting and tough. Last world Cup they were eliminated quick, I think the coming world a lot is expected from Brazil.

[QueenVera]

 To me, the best world cup so far is the just concluded 2022 world cup held in Qatar, from the beginning of the tournament to it's end was full of suprises and I enjoyed every bit of games played although my preferred country didn't ended up lifting the trophy but they still participated in the final and made it a very tough one for the champions Argentina, countries like Morocco and Croatia took everyone by suprise in reaching the semi finals, but Morocco especially drew everyone's attention on them they were very exceptional and most people thought they'll get into the finals.
 However the upcoming world cup in 2026 would be more interesting and anticipated by people worldwide because this is the first time it would be hosted by three different countries the good thing is that they'll be held in North America making it easier for people to move to various locations for the tournament, it's going to be a tough one and I'm expecting a decent play this time from Brazil because they've got a squad filled with world class talents from high ranking European clubs and now got a new coach with a great record and winning mentality in person of Ancelotti, but I'm still rooting for France to win the trophy by then,only time will tell.

[Volgastallion]

I really want to see what can make Ancelotti with the super Brazilian team, i dont remember when was the last time BRazil has a non brazilian as a coach.

I think he can bring some new ideas, but most of the players knows him and also they know european tactis because all of them plays in europe.

[bitgolden]

Often these teams like India are only strong or show something interesting under certain circumstances but when they have to compete against teams that often appear in the world cup the situation changes and the matches become unbalanced, this happens because the teams that usually play in the World Cup have experience that can be used as capital and also the draw is very profitable for them compared to teams that only occasionally or have just entered the World Cup, but it does not rule out the possibility of these teams making surprises like what teams from Africa usually do, their appearance is often eagerly awaited because they often become a threat to strong teams.

There are many other teams in the same situation and if they were in other confederations they could have more chances to get a ticket for the world cup, most of the countries get less chance in Europe because there are more and stronger competitors for it while in other places like Asia or Africa, this won't be hard for them.

I think that is also a bit double edge sword because teams in Europe send more teams to it whereas teams in Asia and Africa send lesser amount of teams. It means that you need to be a great team in order to be at the top so you could go, otherwise you are not going to be in the world cup. In Europe, you can be 8th best or something and still go if I am not wrong, other continents do not have the same chance.

In the end, we are going to see the big names up there anyway, Brazil, Argentina, France, England and these four are the biggest names so far and will be the most important ones once again. I would be suspecting them to be fighting for the title in 2026 as well, maybe not Argentina anymore but still will be good.

[nullama]

~snip~
A world cup ticket for three countries means that other American teams have a much greater chance of qualifying for the world cup than the three countries that have already been allocated. However, since three spots are already reserved, I guess some countries are supposed to get tickets for the world cup since normally they will not be able to compete, which is the negative aspect of this situation.

Well, this is a kinda unique situation, because they used to have only 3 direct slots, and now they changed two things: They added extra 3 direct slots for a total of 6 (because now there are more teams in the world cup), but also at the same time they removed the extra slots for the hosts.

It's a bit of a trick for this time because they literally added 3 extra slots, but it's not really for the hosts, it's in general from now on.

[tusandii]

I really want to see what can make Ancelotti with the super Brazilian team, i dont remember when was the last time BRazil has a non brazilian as a coach.

I think he can bring some new ideas, but most of the players knows him and also they know european tactis because all of them plays in europe.

Ancelotti is a coach who is quite experienced so it is very likely that Brazil can play well.
During his time as coach Ancelotti has given quite a lot of titles to every football club he has cared for.
Even though Ancelotti is not native to Brazil, by coaching and adding talented players he can make Brazil have better strengths.
Do not forget during this time Brazil also has created quite a lot of great and famous football players.

[Japinat]

~snip~
A world cup ticket for three countries means that other American teams have a much greater chance of qualifying for the world cup than the three countries that have already been allocated. However, since three spots are already reserved, I guess some countries are supposed to get tickets for the world cup since normally they will not be able to compete, which is the negative aspect of this situation.

Well, this is a kinda unique situation, because they used to have only 3 direct slots, and now they changed two things: They added extra 3 direct slots for a total of 6 (because now there are more teams in the world cup), but also at the same time they removed the extra slots for the hosts.

It's a bit of a trick for this time because they literally added 3 extra slots, but it's not really for the hosts, it's in general from now on.

Everything is still blur as of this moment because they will be introducing a new format with more teams and I understand that many of us here, including me, are still having some questions regarding about the upcoming world cup as almost everything will be new to us. I think it's much more great if we will let the mystery unfold right in-front of us during the commencement of the event because I know that somebody from the organization will explain to the crowd and teams about the flow and how does the new format will be played.

[fachant]

~snip~
A world cup ticket for three countries means that other American teams have a much greater chance of qualifying for the world cup than the three countries that have already been allocated. However, since three spots are already reserved, I guess some countries are supposed to get tickets for the world cup since normally they will not be able to compete, which is the negative aspect of this situation.

Well, this is a kinda unique situation, because they used to have only 3 direct slots, and now they changed two things: They added extra 3 direct slots for a total of 6 (because now there are more teams in the world cup), but also at the same time they removed the extra slots for the hosts.

It's a bit of a trick for this time because they literally added 3 extra slots, but it's not really for the hosts, it's in general from now on.

Everything is still blur as of this moment because they will be introducing a new format with more teams and I understand that many of us here, including me, are still having some questions regarding about the upcoming world cup as almost everything will be new to us. I think it's much more great if we will let the mystery unfold right in-front of us during the commencement of the event because I know that somebody from the organization will explain to the crowd and teams about the flow and how does the new format will be played.

I think it is not right to assume what kind of organization the next World Cup will be. However, it seems that no other single country can host the World Cup in such an extraordinary way as in Qatar.

[Leviathan.007]

I really want to see what can make Ancelotti with the super Brazilian team, i dont remember when was the last time BRazil has a non brazilian as a coach.

I think he can bring some new ideas, but most of the players knows him and also they know european tactis because all of them plays in europe.

I don't think if Brazil ever had a non-Brazilian coach in their history because they mostly tried to use Brazilian for their football team mostly the reason for using Brazilian coaches is they think Brazil is the strongest team in the world and they believe Brazilian coaches are better the other coaches in the world.