A Beginner’s Guide to the 2026 FIFA World Cup

Well, here we are. On Thursday, the long-awaited 23rd edition of the FIFA Men’s World Cup will kick off when co-hosts Mexico take on South Africa at the iconic Estadio Azteca. This year’s tournament is being split between Mexico, Canada and the United States, the first time since 2002 that the World Cup has been split between multiple host nations. Can Lionel Messi’s Argentina retain the title they won in Qatar four years ago? Could Thomas Tuchel be the man to finally bring football home for England after 60 years of hurt (feels like it might be time to update the song)? Or maybe there could be a new name to the Jules Rimet trophy to add to the eight previous winners — United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino has refused to rule out what would arguably be the biggest surprise win in the competition’s history.

This will be a World Cup unlike any other, both on and off the pitch. Much of the noise surrounding the tournament, as with everything else in the world, has revolved around US President Donald Trump, who never misses an opportunity to put himself front and centre. At the draw in December, Trump was awarded the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize, an award created for the sole purpose of satisfying his own ego. Since then, he has started a global conflict that has claimed thousands of lives, as well as continuing to support his gestapo-inspired ICE agency, who routinely kidnap people off the streets and murdered an American citizen in cold blood last January.

Furthermore, Trump has actively pushed the Iranian team not to attend the tournament (at the time of writing these efforts have been unsuccessful) and numerous players and indeed teams have had issues obtaining visas for the tournament; the DR Congo delegation have had their preparations disrupted, Switzerland striker Breel Embolo was unable to enter the country at the same time as the rest of the Swiss squad after his ETSA travel authorisation was placed “under review” and Somali referee Omar Abdulkerim Artar has been banned from entering the country, crushing his World Cup dream.

There will be 104 matches of football to play, the most ever at a major tournament

Closer to the pitch, fans are being charged exorbitant prices for even the most low-profile of matches. Although a token number of $60 tickets have been made available for some games, most fans will have to pay well into the hundreds, if not thousands to see even a group stage match. The cheapest possible tickets to watch England’s three group stage matches total an eye-watering £1,543. If you wanted to follow Mexico’s journey to the knockouts it would set you back £6,732 — an incredible £25 for every minute of football. At that rate, a Premier League Season ticket next season would cost $42,636. For comparison, 40% of group stage tickets at Euro 2028 will cost less than £60.

Regardless, on the pitch there will be 104 matches of football to play, the most ever at a major tournament. This is, in part, due to the expansion of the World Cup from 32 teams to 48, a move which will also see some third placed teams qualify for the knockouts, similar to the EUROs, and an extra round of knockout fixtures played. As a result of this, numerous smaller nations have reached the World Cup for the first time in decades — or even in their history. Cape Verde, Jordan, Curucao, and Uzbekistan will all make their World Cup debuts, whilst the likes of DR Congo, Haiti, Iraq, and Scotland return to the World’s biggest stage for the first time this century.

The three best teams in Europe – Spain, France and England – are clearly the three favourites to win the tournament

Argentina arrive stateside as the holders, headlined by arguably the greatest player of all time, Lionel Messi, in what will surely be his final World Cup appearance. Messi, who will turn 39 during the tournament, remains the centrepiece of the Argentine side, which remains largely unchanged from four years ago — 17 of the 26 players from Qatar return in this year’s tournament, the most of any serious contender at the tournament. If you believe the odds, however, Argentina are just joint fifth favourites to lift the Jules Rimet trophy with record winners, Brazil. Messi’s eternal rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, is viewed by the bookies as slightly more likely to lift the trophy with Portugal on the tenth anniversary of their triumph at EURO 2016, whilst the three best teams in Europe – Spain, France and England – are clearly the three favourites to win the tournament (in that order). Alongside the Argentines, they make up the four top seeds in the tournament, and the knockout bracket has been designed such that, should they win their respective groups, none will meet each other until the semi finals.

France have the most World Cup pedigree of the three, having won the World Cup in 2018 and came within a penalty shootout of winning again in 2022. This will be the seventh and final tournament as manager for the most successful figure in French footballing history, Didier Deschamps, before Zinedine Zidane takes over from September, and he arguably arrives at the World Cup with the strongest squad of his 12 years in charge. Although the old guard of N’Golo Kante and Adrien Rabiot are still present, a new generation of French superstars has emerged. It is hard to argue that a Les Blues squad that boasts the likes of William Saliba, Desire Doue, William Saliba, Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembele, and Rayan Cherki is not the most talented group stateside this Summer (and not all of those players will even start!). Unquestionably, however, France’s talisman remains Kylian Mbappe. Few would dispute Mbappe was not just the best player at the World Cup, but on the planet in 2022, and although he has had a relatively poor season by his standards at club level, the Real Madrid frontman remains a near unrivalled talent. At 27, he is a far cry from the young starlet who became the first teenager since Pele to score in a World Cup final in 2018, and the time has now come to add a second international trophy to his name. Having almost won the final on his own last time, he will feel he owes it to himself to go one step further this year, and remind everybody just how good he is.

England have a positive route to the final, and will trust that […] they can finally add a second star to the shirt

If you were to pick one favourite, it would be Spain. Luis De La Fuente’s men were a class above everyone at EURO 2024, last lost a competitive fixture three years ago, and boast arguably the best player in the world, Barcelona starman Lamine Yamal, who will turn 19 six days before the final. Whilst France may boast a few more star names, Spain have a cohesive group, strong identity, and the momentum of winning their last international tournament, just like the 2010 group who delivered La Roja’s previous triumph. Remarkably, they have done this without a recognised striker — the number 9 duties were shared between Mikel Oyarzabal and Mikel Merino in qualifying — but this has not stopped Spain from embodying an indomitable juggernaut since Luis Enrique departed following Qatar 2022.

And so we come to England. The Three Lions lack the recent performances, overall squad, and public confidence of their European rivals, but nonetheless cannot be written off. England have narrowly lost in the final of both of the previous European Championships, and were just a few minutes away from reaching the final in 2018. In 2022, they outplayed the French on the night, and if Harry Kane had scored from the penalty spot, they may well have been the ones to take on Argentina in the final. The appointment of Thomas Tuchel to replace Gareth Southgate signals a shift in the English mindset, however, and with hindsight it is one that has come one tournament too late. England have to stop being the team of promise and near misses. The FA have thus taken a huge risk in appointing Tuchel, who was never going to get any grace from the English media on account of his nationality. This has been furthered by the totally proportional and reasonable responses to defeats in experimental friendlies to Japan and Senegal, which were of course not overblown in any way whatsoever. Tuchel’s squad selection also brought with it controversy, leaving out Cole Palmer and Harry Maguire (who have a proven record of delivering for England at major tournaments), as well as Phil Foden (who has had one good game in an England shirt, against San Marino in 2021). As with Gareth Southgate’s selections, though, the judgement will be based on results and results alone. England have a positive route to the semi final, however, and will trust that, led by the best striker on the planet, they can finally add a second star to the shirt, sixty years on from 1966.

The FIFA World Cup promises to be one of the most unpredictable and unique tournaments yet

Although many more nations, such as Brazil, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, Norway, and (at least according to the American media) the United States will feel they have a chance at winning the trophy for themselves, it is hard to pick a favourite outside of the fabulous four to ultimately go all the way to New Jersey on the 19th of June and be crowned champions of the world.

What we can guarantee is it will be a fun ride to get to the final, and as the government have allowed pubs to stay open until the early hours of the morning on matchdays due to the obscene kickoff times on the other side of the Atlantic, I will see you all at Fusion for the 3AM kickoff between South Korea and Czechia on Friday morning. No excuses — you’ll still have as many as three hours of sleep if you’ve got an exam!

With more teams, players, rounds, and matches than ever before, the 2026 Men’s FIFA World Cup promises to be one of the most unpredictable and unique tournaments yet. So whether you’re backing England, treacherously raising the flag of somebody else or simply there to enjoy the ride, settle in for six weeks of non-stop action, drama, and heartache. Dreams will be made and shattered, hearts will be lifted and broken, dynasties will rise and fall. All that’s left to say is let the football begin.