The Biggest World Cup Ever Starts in 9 Days. Here Is Everything You Need to Know.
48 teams. 3 countries. 104 matches. The FIFA World Cup 2026 kicks off on June 11 in Mexico City and ends July 19 in New York. Here is your complete guide to the biggest football tournament in history.
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Nine days from now, the world stops.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup runs from June 11 to July 19, jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico across 16 cities. It is the first World Cup ever to feature 48 teams. That means more matches, more nations, more drama — and more chances for a surprise nobody saw coming.
The tournament opens on June 11 at 3pm GMT at the Mexico City Stadium as Mexico host South Africa in Group A. The final will be played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on July 19.
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The full groups at a glance:
Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Czechia. Group B: Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar, Switzerland. Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland. Group D: United States, Paraguay, Australia, Turkey. Group E: Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador. Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Tunisia. Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand. Group H: Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay. Group I: France, Senegal, Iraq, Norway. Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan. Group K: Portugal, DR Congo, Uzbekistan, Colombia. Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama.
The favourites going in are Argentina, Brazil, France, Spain and England. Any one of them could win it. Any one of them could also crash out in the group stage — which, at a World Cup, happens more often than you think.
For Nepali football fans, there is no home team to cheer. But there never is — and that has never stopped anyone from staying up until 3am to watch Messi play.
Pick your team. Set your alarms. The World Cup is almost here.
