The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is only three days away and the football vibes are at their all-time high at the moment. 32 national football teams have already announced their final squad and are 100% committed to their training sessions and friendly matches prior to the major tournament that will be the first edition in a Middle-East State and during a winter season as well.
Everyone around the world, football fans or not, are more than ready to watch games and catch their favourite players and teams in actions, with many hoping that their beloved team can also make their country proud. Nevertheless, we here would want to briefly tell fans about what would happen in the next FIFA World Cup after its 2022 edition in Qatar, most notably the introduction of its host nations.
Three Countries to Co-Host the 2026 FIFA World Cup
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the first edition that is co-hosted by multiple countries since 2002, with the last co-hosted edition being in Korea and Japan two decades ago; The United States of America, Mexico and Canada are the host countries for the next edition, with 16 different cities chosen for their venues (East Rutherford, Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, Seattle, San Francisco / Bay Area (Santa Clara) and Los Angeles in the United States of America, Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey in Mexico as well as Vancouver and Toronto in Canada).
The 2026 edition will be Mexico’s third time hosting the celebrated sporting event, while the United States of America and Canada will be hosting it for the second and first time respectively. Stadiums chosen in the United States of America are venues for NFL games, which aim at accommodating large streams of football fans that will be travelling there through the course of the a-month-long tournament.
48 Teams to Qualify and 80 Games to Be Played at the 2026 FIFA World Cup
Votes back in 2017 have approved the plan of having more than 32 teams in the tournament, and the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the first to have a pool of 48 teams, and due to the increase of team numbers, a total of 80 games will be played instead of the usual 64 games in the past. As the biggest host nation among the three, the United States of America will hold 60 games in its venues while the remaining matches are equally shared by Mexico and Canada.
(Photo Credits: FIFA)
