Lagos, NIGERIA – The biggest prize in international football is the World Cup. The tournament is played every four years, with qualified countries from every continent participating.
But this year event will be very different from previous editions.
Listen to the author read this article:
There’s a few things you need to know ahead of the 2026 World Cup:
The football matches will be held in three countries: the United States, Canada and Mexico.
It’s the first time three nations will be hosting the tournament. It will be played across 16 cities, with the final played at the MetLife stadium in New Jersey.
Previous editions of the World Cup usually had 36 countries competing, but this year’s will have 48 nations participating.
The expansion gives room for countries with less footballing prowess a chance to compete, as well as some debutant countries.
Newcomers include Curaçao – an island nation in the Caribbean making its first ever World Cup appearance. It is the smallest country by population and land area in the history of the competition.
Jordan, Uzbekistan and Cape Verde are also entering the contest for the first time.
The tournament will be 104 matches as opposed to 64 in previous years. It will have 12 groups for the group stage rather than the usual eight.
The knockout phase will begin with a round of 32 – twice the size of the usual 16 teams.
Also interesting to note is that only eight countries—Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina, France, Uruguay, England and Spain— have won the World Cup since the inception of the tournament in 1930.
It would be interesting to see another country win this year.
The tournament will last 39 days, from June 11 to July 19.
Forty-eight countries, 104 matches, 39 days and one dream— the World Cup trophy.
Dominic Crown is a Junior Reporter with Youth Journalism International from Nigeria. He wrote this article and made the audio recording.
Samantha Esquivel is a Correspondent and Senior Photographer with Youth Journalism International from Mexico. She contributed the cover photo.
