November 23 – The qualification road for Asia’s nations for the 2026 World Cup is a long one. The first round saw 20 teams play knock-out matches to qualify for the first group stage. There will be a further group round and play-offs before the AFC’s 2026 qualifiers are confirmed.
By Paul Nicholson
October 27 – If the expanded 48-team World Cup in 2026 matches the no-holds barred drama and competitiveness of the US cities battling in the high-stakes race to host the final, then it really could be a best-ever World Cup for FIFA.
October 17 – Palestine’s men’s team will play all home matches in Algeria until further notice following a request from the Palestinian FA in the wake of the military conflict between Hamas and Israel.
October 13 – Eduard Bello’s overhead kick ensured Venezuela held five-time world champions Brazil to a 1-1 draw in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Argentina maintained their perfect record with a 1-0 win against Paraguay and moved top of the table.
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.
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 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 13 – This week in Kigali, Rwanda, in and around its Congress, FIFA will discuss proposals to change the opening group stages of the 2026 World Cup from three to four teams. Mario Guajardo and Alex Krumer, business and economics professors at universities in Norway are specialists in studying formats and schedules for sports competitions. They analyse some of the options available to FIFA.