2026 World Cup: 104 Matches, 40 More Games Added, Opening Match in Mexico, Final in the United States

The group stage draw for the 2026 USA-Canada-Mexico World Cup is scheduled for 1 a.m. Beijing time on December 6. Four years have passed in the blink of an eye, and the World Cup, held every four years, is truly coming... Does the World Cup remain your happiness source? Or is it a memory from your younger days?

• The 2026 USA-Canada-Mexico World Cup will take place in16 host cities across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

• The 2026 USA-Canada-Mexico World Cup will expand from 32 to 48 teams,with the top two teams from each group advancing directly, along with the eight best third-placed teams moving on to the round of 32. The knockout stage now includes a round of 16, which was not present before.
• There will be a total of104 matches in the 2026 tournament, including 72 group stage games and 32 knockout matches—this means that after the expansion, the number of matches has increased by as many as40 games.
• The 2026 USA-Canada-Mexico World Cupwill last for 39 days, with only 5 days without any matches.
• Teams reaching the final in the 2026 World Cup will play8 matches instead of the previous 7.

• The opening match of the 2026 World Cup will be held atAzteca Stadium in Mexico City.

• The final of the 2026 World Cup will take place in the United States atMetLife Stadium in the New York/New Jersey area.

In my personal opinion, after expanding to 48 teams like the 2024 European Championship, the group stage will mostly serve as warm-up matches for the stronger teams, leading to a noticeable drop in competitive quality during this phase due to many mismatches. This allows top attackers to rack up impressive stats easily. The real competition of the 2026 World Cup begins at the round of 16. Do you agree with this view?