When does the 2026 World Cup start? Dates, opening match and final

The 2026 FIFA World Cup starts on June 11, 2026 and ends with the final on July 19, 2026 — a 39-day tournament, the longest and largest in the competition's history. For the first time it is co-hosted by three countries (the United States, Mexico and Canada), contested by 48 teams instead of 32, and played across 104 matches in 16 host cities.

The opening match is on June 11, 2026 at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, where hosts Mexico face South Africa. It is a genuinely historic kick-off: the Azteca becomes the first stadium ever to host the opening match of three different World Cups, after 1970 and 1986 — a record confirmed by FIFA that no other venue on earth can match. From there the group stage runs into late June, the knockout rounds fill out early-to-mid July, and the whole thing builds to the showpiece.

The final is on July 19, 2026 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, just outside New York City — an 82,500-seat venue and the centrepiece of the US leg of the tournament. Between the opener and the final, the bracket expands like never before: a 48-team field means a new round of 32 before the familiar last 16, so there is more knockout football than any previous edition.

Want the specifics for your team? Our full schedule lists every fixture, the group pages show who plays whom and the qualification picture, and the match simulator lets you play the tournament forward to see who reaches the final. If you just want to know who wins, start with our AI predictions.