2026 FIFA World Cup

Format and expansion

The general idea of expanding the tournament had been suggested as early as 2013 by then UEFA president Michel Platini, and also in 2016 by FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Opponents of the proposal argued that the number of games played was already at an unacceptable level, that the expansion would dilute the quality of the games, and that the decision was driven by political rather than sporting concerns, accusing Infantino of using the promise of bringing more countries to the World Cup to win his election.

Starting with this edition, the FIFA World Cup expanded to 48 teams, an increase of 16 teams compared with the previous seven tournaments. The teams will be split into twelve groups of four teams, with the top two teams in each group and the eight best third-placed teams progressing to a new round of 32, as approved by the FIFA Council on March 14, 2023. This is set to be the first expansion and format change since 1998.

The total number of games played will increase from 64 to 104, and the number of games played by teams reaching the final four will increase from seven to eight. The tournament will last 39 days, an increase from 32 days of the 2014 and 2018 tournaments. Each team will still play three group matches. The final matchday at club level for players named in the final squads is May 24, 2026; clubs have to release their players by May 25, with exceptions granted to players participating in continental club competition finals up until May 30. The 56 days of the combined rest, release, and tournament periods remain identical to the 2010, 2014 and 2018 tournaments.

Previous expansion formats

The expansion to 48 teams had already been approved on January 10, 2017, when it was decided that the tournament would include 16 groups of 3 teams, and 80 matches in total, with the top two teams of each group progressing to a round of 32. Under this later-superseded format, the maximum number of games per team would have remained at seven, but each team would have played one fewer group match than before. The tournament still would have been completed within 32 days. The later-superseded format was chosen over three other proposals, ranging from 40 to 48 teams, from 76 to 88 matches, and from one to four minimum matches per team.

Critics of the later-superseded format argued that the use of three-team groups with two teams progressing significantly increased the risk of collusion between teams. This prompted FIFA to suggest that penalty shootouts may be used to prevent draws in the group stage, although even then some risk of collusion would remain, and a possibility would emerge of teams deliberately losing shootouts to eliminate a rival. To address these concerns, FIFA continued considering alternative formats – a process that ended with the 2023 announcement that the format would be 12 groups of 4 teams.

Host selection

Main article: United 2026 FIFA World Cup bid, Morocco 2026 FIFA World Cup bid

The FIFA Council went back and forth between 2013 and 2017 on limitations within hosting rotation based on the continental confederations. Originally, it was set that bids to be host would not be allowed from countries belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding tournaments. It was temporarily changed to only prohibit countries belonging to the confederation that hosted the previous World Cup from bidding to host the following tournament, before the rule was changed back to its prior state of two World Cups.

The FIFA Council made an exception to potentially grant eligibility to member associations of the confederation of the second-to-last host of the FIFA World Cup in the event that none of the received bids fulfill the strict technical and financial requirements. In March 2017, FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed that "Europe (UEFA) and Asia (AFC) are excluded from the bidding following the selection of Russia and Qatar in 2018 and 2022 respectively." Therefore, the 2026 World Cup could be hosted by one of the remaining four confederations: CONCACAF (North America; last hosted in 1994), CAF (Africa; last hosted in 2010), CONMEBOL (South America; last hosted in 2014), or OFC (Oceania, never hosted before), or potentially by UEFA in case no bid from those four met the requirements.

Co-hosting the FIFA World Cup—which had been banned by FIFA after the 2002 World Cup—was approved for the 2026 World Cup, though not limited to a specific number but instead evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Also for 2026, the FIFA general secretariat, after consultation with the Competitions Committee, had the power to exclude bidders who did not meet the minimum technical requirements to host the competition.

Canada, Mexico, and the United States had each publicly considered bidding for the tournament separately, but the United joint bid was announced on April 10, 2017. In March 2022, Liga MX president Mikel Arriola claimed Mexico's involvement as cohost could have been at risk if the league and the federation had not responded quickly to the Querétaro–Atlas riot between rival fans that left 26 spectators injured and resulted in 14 arrests. Arriola said FIFA was "shocked" by the incident but Infantino was satisfied with the sanctions handed down against Querétaro.

Voting

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup bids

The voting took place on June 13, 2018, during the 68th FIFA Congress in Moscow, and it was opened to all 203 eligible members. The United bid won with 134 valid ballots, while the Morocco bid received 65 valid ballots. Iran voted for the option "None of the bids", while Cuba, Slovenia, and Spain abstained from voting. Ghana was suspended by FIFA due to a corruption scandal and was therefore ineligible to vote.

Venues

| Western region | Los Angeles | SF Bay Area | Seattle | Vancouver | Central region | Dallas | Guadalajara | Houston | Kansas City | Mexico City | Monterrey | Eastern region | Atlanta | Boston | Miami | NY/NJ | Philadelphia | Toronto

| mark-coord1 = | shape-color1 = #57bbb6 | mark-title1 = Los Angeles | mark-description1 = SoFi Stadium | mark-coord2 = | shape-color2 = #57bbb6 | mark-title2 = San Francisco Bay Area | mark-description2 = Levi's Stadium | mark-coord3 = | shape-color3 = #57bbb6 | mark-title3 = Seattle | mark-description3 = Lumen Field | mark-coord4 = | shape-color4 = #57bbb6 | mark-title4 = Vancouver | mark-description4 = BC Place | mark-coord5 = | shape-color5 = #6bc077 | mark-title5 = Dallas | mark-description5 = AT&T Stadium | mark-coord6 = | shape-color6 = #6bc077 | mark-title6 = Guadalajara | mark-description6 = Estadio Akron | mark-coord7 = | shape-color7 = #6bc077 | mark-title7 = Houston | mark-description7 = NRG Stadium | mark-coord8 = | shape-color8 = #6bc077 | mark-title8 = Kansas City | mark-description8 = Arrowhead Stadium | mark-coord9 = | shape-color9 = #6bc077 | mark-title9 = Mexico City | mark-description9 = Estadio Azteca | mark-coord10 = | shape-color10 = #6bc077 | mark-title10 = Monterrey | mark-description10 = Estadio BBVA | mark-coord11 = | shape-color11 = #f48472 | mark-title11 = Atlanta | mark-description11 = Mercedes-Benz Stadium | mark-coord12 = | shape-color12 = #f48472 | mark-title12 = Boston | mark-description12 = Gillette Stadium | mark-coord13 = | shape-color13 = #f48472 | mark-title13 = Miami | mark-description13 = Hard Rock Stadium | mark-coord14 = | shape-color14 = #f48472 | mark-title14 = New York/New Jersey | mark-description14 = MetLife Stadium | mark-coord15 = | shape-color15 = #f48472 | mark-title15 = Philadelphia | mark-description15 = Lincoln Financial Field | mark-coord16 = | shape-color16 = #f48472 | mark-title16 = Toronto | mark-description16 = BMO Field

During the bidding process, 41 cities with 42 existing, fully functional venues with regular tenants (except Montreal) and two venues under construction (Las Vegas and Los Angeles) submitted to be part of the bid (three venues in three cities in Mexico; six venues in six cities in Canada; 35 venues in 32 cities in the United States). A first-round elimination cut nine venues and nine cities. A second-round elimination cut an additional nine venues in six cities, while three venues in three cities (Chicago, Minneapolis, and Vancouver) dropped out due to FIFA's unwillingness to discuss financial details. After Montreal dropped out in July 2021 due to lack of provincial funding and support to renovate Olympic Stadium, Vancouver rejoined the bid as a candidate city in April 2022, bringing the total number to 24 venues, each in its own city or metropolitan area.

On June 16, 2022, the sixteen host cities (two in Canada, three in Mexico, eleven in the United States) were announced by FIFA: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Monterrey, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Toronto, and Vancouver. Eight of the sixteen chosen stadiums have permanent artificial turf surfaces that are planned to be replaced with grass under the direction of FIFA and a University of Tennessee–Michigan State University research team. Four venues (Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and Vancouver) are indoor stadiums that use retractable roof systems, all equipped with climate control while a fifth, Los Angeles, is open-air but has a translucent roof and no climate control. The host of the final match—MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey—was announced by FIFA on February 4, 2024.

Although there are soccer-specific stadiums in Canada and the United States, the largest dedicated soccer-specific stadium in the United States, Geodis Park in Nashville, Tennessee, seats 30,000, which falls short of FIFA's minimum of 40,000 (Toronto's BMO Field is being expanded from 30,000 to 45,500 for this tournament). Stadiums including Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and Lumen Field in Seattle are used by National Football League (NFL) and Major League Soccer (MLS) teams. Although primarily used for gridiron football, with the American stadiums hosting NFL teams and Canada's hosting the Canadian Football League (CFL), all of the Canadian and American stadiums have been used on numerous occasions for soccer and are also designed to host that sport.

Mexico City is the only capital of the three host nations chosen as a venue site, with Ottawa and Washington, D.C., joining Bonn (West Germany, 1974) and Tokyo (Japan, 2002) as the only capital cities not selected to host World Cup matches. Washington was a host city candidate, but due to the poor state of FedExField, it combined its bid with nearby Baltimore's, which was unsuccessful. Other cities eliminated from the final hosting list were Cincinnati, Denver, Nashville, Orlando, and Edmonton. Ottawa's candidate venue, TD Place Stadium, was eliminated early on due to insufficient capacity. None of the stadiums used in the 1994 FIFA World Cup will be used in this tournament, and Estadio Azteca is the only stadium in this tournament that was used in the 1970 and 1986 FIFA World Cups.

Due to FIFA's rules on stadium sponsorships, the venues will use alternative names for the duration of the tournament, shown in parentheses. The capacity is based on information published by FIFA.

: A denotes a stadium used for previous men's World Cup tournaments. : A denotes an indoor stadium with a fixed or retractable roof with interior climate control.

Host city names in the first column reflect official material such as the bid book, official websites, and press releases. If a stadium is located outside of the traditional geographic boundary of a host city, its specific location is noted in parentheses below the host city's name in smaller font.

Stadiums in the second column are listed by order of capacity, from top to bottom. Due to FIFA's sponsorship rules, the stadium's alternative name is noted in parentheses below its official name in smaller font.

The capacity of a stadium in the third column should only be changed if the capacity figure is updated by FIFA. Average attendance figures during the tournament will be added only after its conclusion.

Images of the stadiums in the fourth column must be interior views during soccer matches. These images should be left at default size to respect readers' thumbnail size preferences per MOS:IMGSIZE.

Please open a topic on the talk page if you wish to make a change to this format.

[Example] First column: Dallas (Arlington, Texas) [in small font]

Second column AT&T Stadium (Dallas Stadium) [in small font]

Third column: 94,000 (to be updated only if done so by FIFA)

Fourth column: Image

Teams

Qualification

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

The United Bid personnel anticipated that all three host countries would be awarded automatic berths. On August 31, 2022, FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed that six CONCACAF teams will qualify for the World Cup, with Canada, Mexico, and the United States automatically qualifying as hosts. This was confirmed by the FIFA Council on February 14, 2023.

Immediately prior to the 67th FIFA Congress, the FIFA Council approved the slot allocation in a meeting in Manama, Bahrain. This includes an intercontinental playoff tournament involving six teams to decide the last two FIFA World Cup spots.

The six teams in the playoffs will comprise one team from each confederation excluding UEFA, and one additional team from the confederation of the host countries (CONCACAF). Two of the teams will be seeded based on the World Rankings, and they will play the winners of two knockout games between the four unseeded teams for the two FIFA World Cup berths. The four-game tournament is to be played in one or more of the host countries, and will also be used as a test event for the FIFA World Cup. The ratification of slot allocation also gives the OFC a guaranteed berth in the final tournament for the first time: the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the first tournament in which all six confederations have at least one guaranteed berth and also the first time since the 2010 edition in which all confederations have a team qualified for the World Cup finals.

Eritrea withdrew from qualification prior to playing any matches, due to concerns that players would seek political asylum if allowed to travel overseas. Congo, drawn in the same group as Eritrea, was suspended on February 6, 2025, due to government interference in FECOFOOT operations. CAF initially cancelled Congo's remaining matches. However, Tanzania and Zambia were later awarded 3–0 victories by forfeit. The suspension was lifted by FIFA on May 14, 2025.

Of the 42 teams that have qualified to date, 26 also appeared in the 2022 edition.

• Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan will all make their World Cup debuts.
• Haiti returns to the tournament after last appearing in 1974.
• Austria, Norway, and Scotland return to the tournament after last appearing in 1998.
• For South Africa, it marks their first successful qualifying campaign since 2002, as they automatically qualified as host in 2010.
• For previous host Qatar, it marks the first time that they advanced to the tournament through qualification.

The teams that have qualified to date, sorted by region:

AFC (8)

• (debut)
• (debut)

CAF (9)

• (debut)

CONCACAF (6)

• (co-host)
• (debut)
• (co-host)
• (co-host)

CONMEBOL (6)

• (title holder)

OFC (1)

UEFA (12)

Only 4 more teams can qualify from UEFA through the playoff tournament in March 2026.

--

Draw

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup seeding

The draw took place on December 5, 2025, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The 48 teams were divided into four pots of 12. Pot 1 consisted of the three hosts and the top nine teams from the November 2025 FIFA Men's World Ranking. Pots 2, 3, and 4 consisted of the remaining teams according to the ranking. The four winners of the UEFA playoffs and the two winners of the inter-confederation playoffs were not known at the time of the draw, as these matches are scheduled to take place in March 2026, and thus were automatically allocated to Pot 4. The 12 groups were randomly formed by selecting one team from each of the four pots. FIFA's "general principle, whenever possible", was that no group had more than one team from the same confederation drawn into it. This principle was applicable to all confederations except UEFA; each group was required to have either one or two UEFA teams drawn into it.

The three host nations were pre-allocated to three groups for scheduling purposes. Mexico was placed in Group A and will play the opening match of the tournament at Estadio Azteca on June 11. Canada and the United States were placed in Groups B and D, respectively. They will play the third and fourth matches of the tournament, respectively, both on June 12.

The confederation restriction applied to all three potential winners of the inter-confederation playoffs. FIFA also announced that, "in the interest of ensuring competitive balance", two separate pathways to the semifinals (sides of the knockout bracket) were established. Based on this, the teams ranked first (Spain) and second (Argentina) in the ranking were randomly drawn into groups in opposite pathways, as were the teams ranked third (France) and fourth (England). Therefore, should these pairs of teams win their groups, they will be unable to meet until the final, while all four will be unable to meet until the semifinals. The draw started with Pot 1 and ended with Pot 4, with each team selected then allocated into the first available group alphabetically. For the purpose of the match schedule, the Pot 1 teams were automatically drawn into position 1 of each group. For the remaining pots, FIFA established a predetermined pattern to define the position of teams based on their pot and the group they were drawn into.

Result

Team base camps

Base camps will be used by the 48 national squads to stay and train before and during the World Cup tournament.

In addition to the official team base camps, Canadian communities in Alberni Valley on Vancouver Island also sought to be a training camp. The proposal, as an eligible community to host a participating national team for pre-tournament training, was officially recognized by FIFA in July 2025. The proposal centers around the use of the natural-grass field at Bob Dailey Stadium and is noted as the only publicly declared non-host Canadian city to achieve this status for the 2026 tournament.

Match schedule

The match schedule, without group assignments, was announced on February 4, 2024. On June 13, 2024, FIFA released an updated schedule, with specific pairings assigned to venues for the knockout stage. In addition, group stage matches were assigned to specific groups (though pairings for non-host groups were not assigned to specific games until after the final draw). The full schedule was unveiled in a live broadcast on December 6, 2025, the day after the draw.

The opening match was announced to include Mexico, taking place on June 11, 2026, at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. This game will include South Africa. The opening match involving Canada will take place on June 12 at BMO Field in Toronto, while the opening game for the United States will take place on the same day at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. Each host nation is scheduled to play its three matches in the group stage within its own country.

AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will host the most matches of any venue at the tournament with nine. MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, will host the final on July 19. The United States will host 78 matches, including from the quarterfinal stage onward, while Canada and Mexico will each host 13. Each tournament venue, except for the Estadio Akron, will host at least one knockout stage fixture. The match schedule will overlap with the 2026 CFL season, resulting in scheduling conflicts and loss of home games for the Toronto Argonauts and BC Lions. The match schedule will also affect the schedules of the Kansas City Royals, Philadelphia Phillies, Seattle Mariners, and Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball, whose home stadiums are located near World Cup venues.

Host cities were geographically grouped into three regions:

• Western Region (Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles)
• Central Region (Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City)
• Eastern Region (Atlanta, Miami, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, New York/New Jersey)

Group stage

Prior to the final draw, stadiums were assigned to specific groups. Following the final draw, pairings were allocated to specific matches, and the kickoff times were confirmed.

All times are local.

Group A

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup Group A

Group B

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup Group B

Group C

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup Group C

Group D

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup Group D

Group E

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup Group E

Group F

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup Group F

Group G

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup Group G

Group H

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup Group H

Group I

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup Group I

Group J

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup Group J

Group K

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup Group K

Group L

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup Group L

Ranking of third-placed teams

The specific match-ups involving the third-placed teams depend on which eight third-placed teams qualify for the round of 32. The 495 possible combinations were published in Annex C of the tournament regulations.

Knockout stage

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup knockout stage

Bracket

Round of 32

Round of 16

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Third place

Final

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup final

Statistics

Discipline

A player or team official is automatically suspended for the next match for the following offenses:

• Receiving a red card (red card suspensions may be extended for serious offenses)
• Receiving two yellow cards in two matches; yellow cards expire after the completion of the quarterfinals (yellow card suspensions are not carried forward to any other future international matches)

Only pending red card suspensions from qualification will be carried forward to the final tournament.

During qualification, Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off for violent conduct in Portugal's penultimate match, with such an offense typically resulting in a ban of at least two matches. Ronaldo was handed a three-match ban, though the final two matches of the ban were suspended for a one-year probationary period, making him eligible to appear in Portugal's opening World Cup match.

The following suspensions will be served during the tournament:

Marketing

Branding

The official emblem and brand identity was unveiled on May 17, 2023, at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California; its basic form consists of a stacked "26" with an image of the FIFA World Cup Trophy in front of it (marking the first time that the trophy has been depicted in a World Cup emblem as a photo, as opposed to a stylized representation), but it is designed to be adaptable to different backdrops. The next day, FIFA unveiled variants of the emblem for each of the host cities, which feature color variants and designs that reflect local landscapes or culture (with the Los Angeles emblem featuring a stylized sun and wave, the Monterrey emblem featuring imagery of the Cerro de la Silla mountain, and Toronto featuring the city skyline and the CN Tower).

Reaction to the logo from the initial unveiling was largely negative, with many feeling that the design was either unfinished or uncreative compared to the emblems of past FIFA World Cup tournaments. By contrast, United States national team player Jesús Ferreira described the emblem as "beautiful".

Broadcasting rights

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup broadcasting rights

On February 12, 2015, FIFA renewed the United States and Canadian broadcasting rights contracts for Fox (U.S. English), NBCUniversal (U.S. Spanish), and Bell Media (Canada) to cover 2026, without accepting any other bids. A report in The New York Times asserted that this extension was intended as compensation for the rescheduling of the 2022 World Cup to November–December rather than its traditional June–July scheduling, as it created considerable conflicts with major professional sports leagues that are normally in their offseasons during the World Cup.

Fútbol de Primera has the Spanish radio broadcasting rights in the United States and Puerto Rico.

The International Broadcast Center (IBC) will be located at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas.

Sponsorships

Regional supporters

Domestic sponsors

FIFA fan festivals

FIFA will stage fan festivals in cities across the host nations, featuring matches on giant screens and live entertainment. Among the confirmed fan fest locations are Liberty State Park in Jersey City, Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, Fort York and The Bentway in Toronto, and East Downtown Houston.

Tickets

Ticket prices for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will range initially from $60 for group stage matches to $6,730 for the final—largely increased from the USD equivalent of $69 to $1,607 in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. However, in September 2025, FIFA confirmed it would use dynamic pricing for tickets for the first time, following the practice used in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. Hospitality seats were made available in April 2025 via FIFA's ticket partner for the event.

An initial draw period for non-hospitality seats occurred between September 10–19, 2025, limited to Visa cardholders. A second phase ran from October 27–31, and a third phase started after the final draw of teams on December 5. Sales will be capped at four tickets per person per match, and no person will be able to purchase more than 40 tickets for the overall tournament. FIFA is also expected to start an official resale platform.

Merchandise

On October 2, 2025, FIFA announced FIFA Heroes as the official video game of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, scheduled for release in 2026 on Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms.

Symbols

Mascots

The official mascots of the tournament were revealed on September 25, 2025, and are Maple, Zayu, and Clutch. Maple is a moose, Zayu is a jaguar, and Clutch is a bald eagle, representing Canada, Mexico, and the United States respectively. They were designed to reflect the cultural heritage of their respective countries.

Match ball

Main article: Adidas Trionda

On May 2, 2025, reports surfaced that the match ball would be called Adidas Trionda. The design features red, green, and blue (the three colors representing Canada, Mexico, and the United States, respectively, and also featured on the host countries' flags), as well as a white wave connecting each of the colors, hence the name using the Spanish words for three (tri) and wave (onda). The design also features the national symbols of the three host countries (a maple leaf for Canada, a golden eagle for Mexico, and a five-pointed star for the United States) as well as gold embellishments to represent the World Cup Trophy.

Music

On May 17, 2023, the official theme song of the tournament was released, an instrumental track simply titled "FIFA World Cup 26 Theme Song". In March 2025, sixteen remixes of theme were released which featured artists from each host city giving their own local spin to the song. The remixers for each city were:

• Atlanta – Dallas Austin
• Boston – Ben Zakharenko, Dayvin, Berklee College of Music
• Dallas – Tre Nagella
• Guadalajara – Bautista
• Houston – Bombón
• Kansas City – Tech N9ne
• Los Angeles – DJ Flict
• Mexico City – Mexican Institute of Sound
• Miami – Mr. NaisGai
• Monterrey – Toy Selectah
• New York/New Jersey – Take a Daytrip
• Philadelphia – DJ Jazzy Jeff
• San Francisco Bay Area – Dan the Automator
• Seattle – Sango
• Toronto – Hill Kourkoutis
• Vancouver – Grayson Repp

Awards

FIFA Peace Prize

The FIFA Peace Prize is an international award presented by FIFA. Established in 2025, its stated aim is to honor individuals whose actions FIFA characterizes as exceptional contributions to peace and unity, reflecting its campaign slogan "Football Unites the World". According to FIFA, the purpose of the prize is to "reward individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace and by doing so have united people across the world".

The FIFA Peace Prize was awarded on December 5, 2025, to United States president Donald Trump during the draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.. FIFA stated that the award recognized his "involvement in ceasefire efforts and diplomatic engagements in several conflicts".

The creation of the prize and the choice of Trump as its first recipient generated widespread scrutiny and controversy. Human rights groups, analysts and football stakeholders questioned the transparency of the selection process, the suitability of the inaugural laureate, and the implications both for FIFA's claims of political neutrality and its human rights commitments.

Selection process

FIFA stated that the Peace Prize would be awarded on the recommendation of an independent committee. However, as of the first award, the organization had not disclosed detailed nomination procedures or evaluation criteria. FIFA had also not made clear the manner by which the recipient was selected or the exact form the prize would take.

According to The New York Times, the prize was not discussed at the FIFA Council or with FIFA vice presidents, none of whom had input into the selection criteria, prior to its creation in October 2025. The process behind the award was not made public: there were no nominations announced and no formal selection criteria given. Human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, criticized the lack of transparency, reporting that queries about nominees, judges, and criteria remained unanswered.

Investigations by The Guardian and other outlets identified Zaw Zaw, a Myanmar businessman and long-serving president of the Myanmar Football Federation, as chair of the selection committee. Critics highlighted his ties to Myanmar's former military junta and to human rights abuses against the Rohingya people, raising concerns about the credibility of a peace award under his oversight.

Prize money

In December 2025, FIFA announced the prizes for all participating nations. This edition's total prize pool will be $655 million, $215 million greater than the prize pool of the previous tournament. Each qualified team will also receive an additional $1.5 million before the competition to cover preparation costs, thus guaranteed a minimum $10.5 million total in prize money.

Concerns and controversies

Climate concerns

In January 2025, Queen's University Belfast warned about potential heat risks for most of the host cities and urged FIFA to schedule match kickoffs later into the afternoon or evening, stating that the wet-bulb globe temperature in certain host cities was higher than that of Qatar in the winter. Concerns have also been raised by climate activists about the environmental impact of both the expansion to 48 teams as well as traveling between host cities, most of which will require extensive air travel and increase carbon emissions, a counter to one of FIFA's goals on sustainability. During the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which was also hosted in the United States, several matches reported high temperatures ranging from 90 to and weather delays. A report by Scientists for Global Responsibility in July 2025 calculated that the amount of greenhouse gas emissions for the tournament would make it one of the most polluting events in the world as it would be almost double the average for the last four tournaments (2022 reportedly had 5.25 e6t), roughly the same amount as 6.5 million cars driven for a year.

In December 2025, FIFA announced that all matches at the 2026 World Cup would include a mandatory three-minute hydration break in each half to allow players to rest in hot conditions. The three-minute period would also be available for commercials at the discretion of tournament broadcasters.

Labor rights concerns in Mexico

In March 2025, the trade union Building and Wood Workers' International (BWI) accused FIFA of blocking a planned labor inspection at Mexico City's Estadio Azteca, which is undergoing renovations in preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. According to BWI, FIFA's intervention prevented inspectors from evaluating working conditions at the site, raising concerns about potential labor rights violations similar to alleged instances of slave labor at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

LGBTQ rights in the United States

On June 11, 2025, the Sports & Rights Alliance, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International called on the United States to ensure that LGBTQ rights were upheld during the tournament in light of the Trump administration's alleged erosion of said rights.

Pride Match (Egypt vs. Iran)

A "Pride Match" was planned in advance to take place in Seattle, organized by the local committee to tie into the local celebration and without endorsement by FIFA. After the draw and release of the schedule, it was determined that this match would feature Egypt and Iran, two countries where homosexuality is punishable by law. Seattle's Pride Match Advisory Committee spokesperson said "The Pride Match has been scheduled to celebrate and elevate Pride events in Seattle and across the country and it was planned well in advance". Iranian Football Federation President Mehdi Taj said both countries had "objections" and that the branding was an "irrational move that supports a certain group." Iran was planning to appeal the decision. The Egyptian Football Association also sent a formal letter to FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström rejecting "in absolute terms" LGBTQ connections to the game.

Immigration policy concerns under the Trump administration

During the bidding process, President Donald Trump's executive orders regarding immigration from certain Muslim-majority countries in 2017 implemented during his first term were touted as a potential risk. Infantino stated, "any team, including the supporters and officials of that team, who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup." In response, the Trump administration sent letters to FIFA that read, in part, that Trump was "confident" that "all eligible athletes, officials and fans from all countries around the world would be able to enter the United States without discrimination."

Concerns around the staging of the tournament were also raised during the first meeting of the FIFA World Cup Task Force due to the immigration policy of the second Donald Trump administration. In response, Vice President JD Vance said, "Of course, everybody is welcome to come and see this incredible event, but when the time is up, they'll have to go home. Otherwise, they'll have to talk to Secretary Noem."

On June 11, the Sports & Rights Alliance, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International called on FIFA to ensure that human rights in the United States were upheld during the tournament, especially in light of the use of force during the anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles where journalists and protesters were attacked by local police.

2025 travel ban and exemptions

In June 2025, the Trump administration reinstated a travel ban affecting citizens from multiple countries, citing national security concerns. The ban, which was later expanded in December, prohibits the issuance of new immigrant and non-immigrant visas for citizens of 39 affected countries, including those whose teams have qualified for the World Cup—Haiti, Iran, Ivory Coast, and Senegal. The proclamation includes an exemption for any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting events as determined by the Secretary of State.

This exemption ensured that national teams' players, coaches, and staff of those designated countries would be permitted to enter the United States for the competition, but the U.S. State Department confirmed that ordinary citizens of the four countries were not covered by this exemption, making them ineligible for visa issuance to attend the matches. While fans were permitted to submit visa applications with the promise of priority if they provided proof of tickets, the department noted that issuance would be unlikely, barring rare "national interest" waivers. However, this restriction can be circumvented if a fan is a valid visa holder, a permanent resident, or a dual national who applies using a passport not subject to the ban. In such cases, applicants may still be eligible to enter or apply for entry, provided they satisfy all other immigration and security requirements.

On November 27, the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) said it would boycott the December 5 World Cup draw after its president, Mehdi Taj, was denied a visa to enter the United States. Four other delegation members, including head coach Amir Ghalenoei, were approved. An FFIRI spokesperson told state media the United States decision was "unrelated to sport" and said the federation quickly raised the issue with FIFA President Gianni Infantino. However, on December 3, the FFIRI reversed its decision and announced that it would send representatives to the draw, with head coach Ghalenoei serving as the technical representative of the national football team.

Impact of final game halftime show

On September 28, 2024, FIFA announced that Global Citizen, an international advocacy organization, would co-produce a halftime show for the final game at MetLife Stadium, the first halftime show in the history of the World Cup. The show is intended to copy the format of the Super Bowl halftime show, featuring a well-known musical performer to increase the tournament's commercial appeal in the market.

The show has generated debate in the global soccer community. Supporters argue that the event modernizes the World Cup and provides a platform for global cultural exchange and revenue growth. However, critics, players, media, unions, and traditionalist fan groups have criticized what they view as the "Americanization" of soccer. Primary objections focus on the potential extension of the traditional 15-minute halftime interval, which generated an argument that it will disrupt player recovery, interfere with technical coaching adjustments, and break the natural flow of the game.

Notes

References

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