October 11 – Asia kicks off its ‘Road to 2026’ World Cup qualifiers tomorrow with the AFC’s Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 1, which sees 20 nations in action.
October 9 – Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter has slammed the unprecedented decision to hold the 1930 World Cup in six countries across three continents and five time zones.
The dual bidding for the 2018 and the 2022 FIFA World Cups degenerated into that proverbial needle, which broke an old and unintentionally salivating camel’s back.
September 24 – FIFA has begun an operational tour of the 16 host cities and stadia that will host the 2026 World Cup. The timing of the visits comes as doubts have been raised over whether the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, owned by Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke, will pull out of the event.
By Annette Taddeo, former member of the Florida State Senate
During the summer of 2026, North America will play host to the FIFA World Cup. This tournament, involving a record 48 teams playing matches at 16 venues spanning the continent, is set to be the biggest sporting event in world history.
September 7 – Tonight world champions Argentina will embark on the long road to the 2026 World Cup taking on Ecuador with South America leading the way in qualifying.
July 27 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has held the draw for the first and second round World Cup 2026 qualifiers for the AFC’s potential nine slots at the expanded 48-team finals.
July 26 – FIFA has issued an invitation to tender for centralised media rights to Africa’s 2026 World Cup qualifying matches ahead of the largest CAF World Cup qualifying in history.
July 20 – A survey of fans across the US has found that fans want to see New York New Jersey as the host for the World Cup 2026 Final at the MetLife Stadium.
May 12 – Ahead of the World Cup 2026 brand reveal in Los Angeles next week, FIFA has launched a campaign titled #WeAre26 to raise the profile of the event and host cities in Canada, Mexico and the USA.
April 4 – Alex Robertson, a box-to-box midfielder, has pledged his international allegiance to Australia despite representing England at both U17 and U18 levels.
By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
March 15 – After no fewer than five failures, an unenviable record, Morocco believe they have finally found a way to stage the World Cup.
By Samindra Kunti in Kigali, Rwanda
March 15 – The World Cup will never be quite the same again. FIFA and its council decided that the global finals must be seemingly endless, the 48-team finals have now grown into a group stage of four teams and a tournament of 104 matches, eight to reach the final. In all the competition will last six, or seven days longer.
March 15 – The winners of the four editions of the Concacaf Champions League – from 2021 to 2024 – will be the confederation’s four qualifiers for the first of the expanded versions of the Club World Cup in 2025.
March 14 – On the eve of the FIFA Congress and president Gianni Infantino’s retaking of his vows in Kigali, Amnesty and a million petition signees have demanded FIFA compensate migrant workers who suffered human rights and labour abuses in Qatar.