Mexico’s 2026 World Cup match quota to be revealed next month

The 2026 World Cup will start to take shape from Sunday 4 February. That will be the moment when world football’s governing body will announce the official fixtures calendar for the summer tournament. FIFA will detail how all 104 matches will be distributed in the first expanded edition of the competition which will feature 48 participating nations as well as the venues for the three parallel inaugural matches -one in each host country: Mexico, the United States and Canada.

Out with the old World Cup format, in with the new

The previous World Cup format featured 16 groups each containing three teams. From the group stage to the direct elimination phase, the fixtures calendar consisted of a total of 80 games. The change in format to eight groups of four teams multiplies the number of matches: 72 games in the group stage, 16 in the round of 32, eight in round of 16, four quarter finals, two semi-finals, the match for third place and the final.

That brings a total of 104 games - almost double the number of games the tournament held up until 2022 (64). FIFA’s task is to maintain the percentage previously established for each host nation - which means that out of 80 matches, the United States would organize 60, with Mexico and Canada both hosting 10. The expansion to 104 matches means that an adjustment has to be made in the distribution. The United States would preserve 75% of the tournament’s matches, while Mexico and Canada would increase their number of matches (between 13 and 15, AS understands), remaining with the same 25% share.

2026 World Cup venues

Once the schedule is announced, it will be clear how many matches each country will host - and how many matches each of the 16 host cities will receive. Also to be revealed, the locations where the three host teams will play their respective group games (all will be on home turf) plus the stadium which will stage the final on 19 July 2026. According to some reports, the AT&T Stadium, in Arlington, Texas, home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys is favorite to hold the final. The Azteca, the only stadium in this edition to have previously held two World Cup finals (1970 and 1986), is a candidate to celebrate one of the three inaugural games - another first, as up until 2022, there was only one opening match.

Canada will host the world football’s premier tournament for the first time. The United States will experience its second World Cup, after hosting the 1994 edition and Mexico will become the first country to organize the World Cup on three occasions (1970, 1986 and 2026).