When is it, how to watch and format explained

Oceania: (one automatic qualifier/one enters inter-confederation play-offs)

New Zealand

What are the inter-confederation play-offs?

You may have noticed that the three host nations, the automatic qualifiers from each confederation and Europe’s four qualifiers via their continental play-offs add up to just 46 teams.

The final two places are decided by something called the inter-confederation play-offs.

With the exception of Europe, each confederation provides one entrant with the host region (Concacaf) sending two teams. That means six teams will contest the inter-confederation play-offs.

The two nations with the best world ranking are seeded go straight into one of the two finals.

The four other countries will be drawn to play two semi-finals, with the winners facing the two seeded teams for a place at the World Cup.

For the 2026 tournament, BBC Sport and ITV will again split the matches between them. The final will be shown on both channels simultaneously.

There are fears that this World Cup could prove the most expensive ever for supporters, with Fifa operating “dynamic pricing” and taking a 15 per cent fee on resale tickets from both buyer and seller.

According to www.fifacollectanalytics.com, tickets for the opening game were found to start at $370 (£279), with the most expensive costing $1,825 (£1,377). That compared with $55 (£42) and $618 (£466), respectively, in Qatar. Prices for next summer’s final in New York were also found to start at $2,030 (£1,531) – more than 10 times more expensive than the cheapest tickets three years ago – as well as averaging $3,945 (£2,973). The vast majority of starting prices are forecast to cost hundreds of dollars.

Where will the matches take place?

The matches will be played across 16 cities – 11 from the US, two in Canada and three in Mexico. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will all be held in the States.

Here is the list of cities that will be hosting at least one World Cup match.

Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Monterrey, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver.

The MetLife Stadium in New Jersey will host the final on July 19, 2026. The venue has a capacity of 82,500 and hosted last summer’s Club World Cup final between Chelsea and Paris St-Germain. Our chief football correspondent Jason Burt was less than impressed when he paid the forbidding, concrete stadium a visit.