World Cup 2026 FAQ

The FIFA World Cup 2026 starts on Thursday, June 11, 2026 with the opening match at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. The tournament runs for 39 days, concluding with the Final on Sunday, July 19, 2026 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

48 teams — the most in World Cup history. This is an expansion from the 32-team format used since 1998. The 48 teams are split into 12 groups of 4, with the top 2 from each group plus the 8 best third-place teams advancing to a 32-team knockout stage.

104 matches total — 48 group stage matches + 56 knockout stage matches. This is 40 more matches than the 2022 World Cup, making it the largest World Cup in history by number of matches.

The Final will be played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey (serving the New York area). Kick-off is scheduled for 3:00 PM ET on Sunday, July 19, 2026 — which is 21:00 CEST for European fans.

Three countries are co-hosting: the United States (11 cities), Canada (2 cities), and Mexico (3 cities). This is the first World Cup to be hosted across three countries and the first in North America since 1994.

Many countries have free-to-air broadcasters showing the World Cup. In the UK: BBC and ITV. Germany: ARD and ZDF. Sweden: SVT Play. France: TF1 and M6. Australia: SBS. See our full broadcaster list by country for more options.

Yes — with a VPN. Your home broadcaster's stream will be geo-blocked outside your country, but connecting to a VPN server in your home country unblocks it instantly. NordVPN is the most reliable option for streaming live football.

TimeForMatch.com automatically detects your device's timezone and shows all 104 World Cup matches in your local time. No settings needed — just open the site and every match is already converted for you.

Official match times are usually published in ET (Eastern Time) since most major venues are on the US East Coast. ET is UTC−4 during summer. TimeForMatch converts every match to your local time automatically, so you never need to do the maths yourself.

The main favourites are France (led by Mbappé), Brazil (Vinicius Jr), Argentina (defending champions, Messi's farewell), England (Bellingham), and Germany (Wirtz). Spain, as Euro 2024 winners, are also strongly fancied.

Yes — Norway qualified for the 2026 World Cup, their first World Cup since 1998. Erling Haaland was instrumental in their qualification campaign and will lead them in North America.

The top 2 teams from each of the 12 groups qualify automatically (24 teams total). Additionally, the 8 best third-place teams across all groups also advance. This means 32 teams reach the knockout round — even a third-place finish can put you through.

Official tickets are sold exclusively through FIFA's ticketing platform at tickets.fifa.com. Beware of unofficial resellers — FIFA does not authorise secondary market sales and counterfeit tickets are a significant risk for major matches.

Visa requirements depend on your nationality. Many countries have visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to the USA. FIFA is working with US authorities on streamlined entry for ticket holders. Check the US Embassy website for your specific country's requirements well in advance.

We use your browser's built-in Intl.DateTimeFormat API — the same system your phone uses to set its clock. This works for every timezone in the world, including those with 30 and 45-minute offsets like India (UTC+5:30) and Nepal (UTC+5:45). We never ask for your location.

No. TimeForMatch.com is an independent fan platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to FIFA or any national football association. All match data is sourced from football-data.org.

Yes — TimeForMatch will continue to cover all major football tournaments year-round, including the Champions League, Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Copa America, and future World Cups. Bookmark us for the full season.