The World Cup draw on Friday will separate 48 teams (and placeholders) into 12 groups of four teams each. Each team will play three games in the group stage, one against every team in its group. The top two teams in each group advance to the knockout stage, as in previous years. But the expansion of the tournament from 32 teams will create an additional round of knockout matches.
Sheinbaum is making her first trip to the US as president at a time when her government is still negotiating with Trump over tariffs he imposed on Mexican goods. Sheinbaum has won delays to some levies in past negotiations with Trump. The trio of nations are also set to review the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement next year. Sheinbaum said Mexico maintained one of the best commercial positions globally amid Trump's tariff push.
It really did happen, you know. Scotland are going to the 2026 World Cup. Maybe it will all feel real when Heidi Klum and Kevin Hart begin co-hosting duties at Friday's draw? Hmm, probably not. What about when the Village People take their turn to perform on stage? Or Robbie Williams? Or Andrea Bocelli? Or Nicole Scherzinger? Guess we will have to wait for some famous former footballer to awkwardly crack open a small plastic ball to reveal 'Scotland' on an unfolded piece of paper for it all to sink in.
MLS will pause from May 25 through July 16 as the World Cup takes place across North America to allow for players to report to their respective national teams. The league has previously only taken short pauses during the World Cup, with a nine-day break during the last summer World Cup in 2018 and two weeks off in 2014. The World Cup begins on June 11 with the opening game in Mexico City.
The FIFA Priority Appointment Scheduling System, or FIFA PASS, is meant to help the Trump administration balance a strict immigration system while ensuring that visitors for the global soccer tournament can enter the United States without issue. "America welcomes the world," Infantino said in a statement. "We have always said that this will be the greatest and most inclusive FIFA World Cup in history -- and the FIFA PASS service is a very concrete example of that."
This national, historic landmark represents exactly the prestige and the tremendous economic impact that the 2026 World Cup will have on our region, Tammy Murphy, First Lady of New Jersey and board chair of the host committee, said at the announcement. We will give fans the ideal place to celebrate the world's game at the heart of Manhattan.
United States President Donald Trump threatened to change FIFA World Cup 2026 host cities if concerned by safety. Organisers of the 2026 FIFA World Cup have dismissed concerns that United States President Donald Trump could move matches from cities he does not deem safe. Republican President Trump said last month that he would consider moving games from Democrat-led San Francisco and Seattle if they did not cooperate with his immigration and crime initiatives.
England are on the cusp of World Cup qualification and could seal a spot at the 2026 tournament with a win over Latvia on Tuesday (19:45 BST). Who could England potentially join? For this week's big Tuesday quiz we want you to name the nations who have already booked their place at next summer's World Cup. We've given you each nation's football confederation as a clue. There's no timer on this one. Good luck!
While we won't know which teams will play in those games until after the group draw Dec. 5, we can already make some educated assumptions about the caliber of the teams that will compete at Levi's Stadium. The 2026 World Cup will be the first tournament with 48 teams. Of those, eight will come from the Asian region, nine from Africa, six from North and Central America and the Caribbean, six from South America, one from Oceania, and 16 from Europe.
Manuel Neuer might not be playing for the German national team anymore, but that certainly does not take anything away from his pedigree amongst the world's greatest goalkeepers. There were rumors circulating that the Bayern Munich captain could potentially make a return to Die Mannschaft ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, but the keeper himself has quelled all of that speculation by saying that definitely won't happen.
France great Zinedine Zidane's son Luca Zidane was called up by Algeria for the first time on Thursday, with the team close to qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America. Luca Zidane, a 27-year-old goalkeeper, represented France at youth level but never for the senior national team and is eligible for Algeria through his father's family ties. FIFA approved a change of national eligibility two weeks ago for Zidane, who once played at Real Madrid when his father was coach there.
Excitement on the ground is only exceeded by the facts, after a record-setting summer that saw downtown hotels finally beat pre-pandemic occupancy rates. Convention business is booming with the new Summit building complete, and cruise and concert travelers are back in full force. The average room now fetches north of $300 a night-a sign that demand has rarely been higher. And yet much higher it will go, with optimism running at a fever pitch ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Venezuela were beaten 6-3 by Colombia on Tuesday ending their hopes of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Venezuela has sacked its national football coach, Fernando Batista, a day after the team's FIFA World Cup qualification dream ended following an intervention by the country's president. News of Argentinian Batista's sacking on Wednesday night, alongside his entire backroom staff, came after President Nicolas Maduro called for a restructuring of the technical staff.
Writing at the Los Angeles Times, Karen Garcia reports that the sign is set to be removed - albeit temporarily - so that the airport's system of roads can be expanded to alleviate traffic conditions there and make life easier on pedestrians making their way around the airport's grounds.As for why this is taking place now, Los Angeles World Airports' chief development officer Michael Christensen told the Times that it relates to two massive international events on the horizon: next year's World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics. The renovations that the temporary sign removal are part of are scheduled to run through 2030, and the Times notes that a date has not yet been set for the sign to be re-installed.
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay secured their spots in the 2026 World Cup on Thursday in the next-to-last round of South American qualifiers. Uruguay and Colombia had 3-0 wins, and Paraguay had a scoreless draw to advance to the global tournament along with already qualified Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador. Peru, which needed wins in the last two rounds to advance, is now out of contention following the loss to Uruguay.
The truth is that the stadium offered FIFA many, many options, and FIFA rejected them all. Until they got to the point of 'you pay the equivalent of the most expensive ticket in the stadium for each seat and go ahead.' And it seems that's where a solution will finally be achieved. That is, the stadium will have to pay FIFA for our seats out of its own pocket.
The new ball for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, named Trionda, features a design with only four panels, the least used in World Cup history, compared to the previous 20-paneled Al Rhila ball.
