Host Cities and Countries
Along with Canada and Mexico, this nation completes the trio of host countries for the 2026 tournament.
What is the United States?
Moving away from the long-standing 32-team setup, the 2026 World Cup features this record-breaking number of total competing nations.
What is 48?
Led by the (not) legendary Lionel Messi, this South American powerhouse entered the 2026 tournament trying to defend their 2022 crown.
What is Argentina?
This Portuguese superstar, famous for his "SIUUU" celebration and wearing the number 7, done with his career in 2026.
Who is Cristiano Ronaldo?
Aside from the goalkeeper, players are strictly penalized with a foul if they intentionally use this part of their body to touch the ball.
What are the hands?
While Vancouver represents the west coast, this city is the only other Canadian host city selected for the tournament.
What is Toronto?
Because of the massive 48-team expansion, the total number of matches played skyrocketed from 64 in previous tournaments to this triple-digit number.
What is 104?
Nicknamed the "Stars and Stripes," this host country automatically qualified for the tournament alongside its North American neighbors.
What is the United States?
This Norwegian goal-scoring machine, who terrifies defenders in the English Premier League for Manchester City, hoped to carry his nation deep into the 2026 tournament, but failed aganist England.
Who is Erling Braut Haaland? RO! RO!! RO!!! RO!!!! RO!!!!!
A standard professional soccer match is split into two halves, with each half lasting exactly this many minutes.
What is 45 minutes?
This massive capital city, known for its high altitude and the historic Estadio Azteca, hosted the tournament's opening match.
What is Mexico City?
Rather than finishing a game in a tie, elimination matches that are deadlocked after 90 minutes and extra time are decided by this dramatic event.
What is a penalty shootout?
Known as "El Tri", this host nation made soccer history by becoming the first country ever to host matches in three separate World Cup tournaments.
What is Mexico?
This Brazilian forward, known for his incredible dribbling skills and playing for Al-Hilal, is his country's all-time leading goalscorer.
Who is Neymar?
This color card is shown by the referee to immediately eject a player from the game for a serious foul.
What is a red card?
This massive stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, beat out Dallas and Los Angeles to secure the highly coveted final match.
What is MetLife Stadium?
Under the new format, teams are divided into 12 groups of four. In a unique twist, the top two teams from each group advance, along with this many of the best third-placed teams.
What is eight?
Boasting global superstars like Kylian Mbappé, this European powerhouse has famously made it to the finals in two of the last three World Cups.
What is France?
This speedy Canadian winger, who plays club soccer for Bayern Munich, is widely considered the biggest superstar on the 2026 co-host Canadian team.
Who is Alphonso Davies?
When a defender accidentally kicks the ball past their own boundary line behind their own net, the attacking team is awarded this type of set-piece kick.
What is a corner kick?
To comply with FIFA guidelines, famous venues like AT&T Stadium and SoFi Stadium had to temporarily drop their corporate names and adopt these generic titles.
What are Dallas Stadium and Los Angeles Stadium?
To accommodate the larger field, the tournament introduced this entirely new knockout round, which takes place right after the group stage but before the Round of 16.
What is the Round of 32?
The 2026 expansion heavily benefited this continent, nearly doubling its representation by sending a historic 9 out of its 10 qualifying teams into the tournament's knockout phase.
What is Africa?
This Real Madrid superstar and English midfielder became a global icon after his dominant performances at the 2022 World Cup at just 19 years old.
Who is Jude Bellingham?
This rule prevents attacking players from simply waiting near the opponent's goal; they must have at least two defenders (including the goalie) between them and the goal when the ball is passed.
What is offside?