FIFA World Cup, 2026

FIFA World Cup 2026 review

This was the 23rd edition of the World Cup.

It was the first tournament to be jointly hosted by three nations, with Canada, Mexico and the United States staging matches across 16 host cities. It was also the first World Cup to feature 48 competing nations, an increase of 16 from the previous seven tournaments.

The tournament was played from 11 June to 19 July 2026, returning to the traditional June and July schedule after the November and December staging of the 2022 edition in Qatar.

The 48 competing nations were allocated amongst the six FIFA Confederations as Europe 16, Africa 10, Asia nine, North America six, South America six and Oceania one, with two further places decided by an inter-confederation play-off tournament.

Spain won the World Cup for the second time after 2010.

This was Spain`s second World Cup Final; they had previously beaten the Netherlands 1-0 after extra time in the 2010 Final.

Finalists Argentina were attempting to become the first nation since Brazil in 1962 to successfully defend the World Cup. Instead, Spain defeated the defending champions 1-0 after extra time, with Ferran Torres scoring the winning goal in the 106th minute.

England finished in third place after beating France 6-4 in the third-place match, while France finished fourth.

Mexico became the first country to host the World Cup three times, having previously staged the tournaments in 1970 and 1986. Canada hosted the World Cup for the first time, while the United States hosted the tournament for the second time after 1994.

Curacao, Haiti, Jordan and Uzbekistan played at their first World Cup finals. Curacao became the smallest nation by population ever to qualify for the tournament, while Jordan and Uzbekistan also made their tournament debuts.

All six FIFA Confederations had at least one guaranteed place at the finals for the first time. The tournament also marked the first time since 2010 that all six Confederations had a team qualify for the World Cup finals.

The 104 games produced a competition record total of 308 goals, an average of 2.96 per game. This was the highest average goals-per-game figure since the 1970 World Cup.

Spain became the first nation to simultaneously hold the FIFA World Cup titles for both men and women. They also became the first team to win the men`s World Cup while conceding only one goal during the tournament.

France`s Kylian Mbappé won the Golden Boot with 10 goals. He became the all-time leading goalscorer at World Cup finals and the first player to win the Golden Boot on more than one occasion, having also won it in 2022.

Spain`s Rodri won the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament, while Unai Simón won the Golden Glove. Pau Cubarsí won the Young Player Award and the Netherlands won the Fair Play Trophy.

Lionel Messi of Argentina extended his record for the most games played at World Cup tournaments to 34. He became the first player to appear in six World Cups and reached his third World Cup Final.

Nineteen-year-olds Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsí became only the fourth and fifth teenagers to appear in a World Cup Final. Both also set a new record for the most World Cup matches played by a player before reaching the age of 20.

The total attendance at the 16 venues used during the tournament was announced as 6,810,966, an average of 65,490 per game. This was a new record for total attendance at a World Cup, surpassing the previous record of 3,587,538 set in the United States in 1994.