The 68th FIFA Congress, held on June 13, 2018, in Moscow, approved three host countries for the next Football World Cup. For the first time, it will be held in 16 cities, 11 in the United States, 3 in Mexico and 2 in Canada.
Also for the first time, the Cup will have the biggest expansion in its history, with the participation of 48 national teams, an increase of 50% compared to 32 teams in the last Cup, held in 2022. As there are more teams, the format of the competition it will also be expanded from a total of 64 to 104 matches.
2026 FIFA WORLD UNITED | OFFICIAL TBN PRESENTATION
The first Cups were held with 13 to 16 participants, in 1930, 1934, 1938 and 1950. From 1954 onwards, the tournament featured 16 teams until it was increased to 24 for Spain '82, and then 32 for France '98 . The dispute with 48 national teams was announced by FIFA in 2017, which defended the change stating its interest in accelerating the development of football in countries that rarely qualify for the World Cup.
The dispute format approved by the FIFA Council would feature 48 teams divided into 16 groups of three teams. The top two teams in each group would qualify for the next phase, with 32 teams, which caused controversy, as it meant that the two teams from the last group match could produce a result that would allow both teams to qualify, to the detriment of a third team. , who wouldn't play. This possibility made FIFA modify this classification criteria.
Thus, the FIFA Council met before the 73rd FIFA Congress in Kigali, Rwanda and unanimously approved an amendment that changed the competition format, from 16 groups of three to 12 groups of four, with the two first and eight best third-placed teams advancing to a round of 32. The new rule will apply at the 2026 FIFA World Cup XXIII. For FIFA, the revised format mitigates the risk of collusion and ensures that all teams play a minimum of three matches, providing balanced rest time between competing teams.
Mexico
The opening date of the dispute has already been defined. The initial game will be held in Mexico City, at the Azteca stadium, on June 11, 2026, a fact that will make Mexico the first country to host, for the third time, a World Cup. Mexico will host 13 World Cup games.
AZTECA STADIUM, IN MEXICO CITY, WITH CAPACITY FOR 83,264 PEOPLE. PHOTO:PINTEREST
Compared to other countries, such as Qatar, host of the last edition of the World Cup, Mexico has the advantage of not needing to build stadiums that will host 13 international matches.
In addition to the Azteca Stadium, the Akron Stadium, in Guadalajara, and the BBVA Stadium, in Monterrey, will also host games from the XXIII Football World Cup. The last two facilities "are relatively new and have already been built under very current criteria". Furthermore, Mexico is one of the most visited countries in terms of tourism and, in this sense, the three selected cities have adequate infrastructure, according to Francisco San José, from the School of Sports Sciences at Universidad Anáhuac México.
Alejandro Escorcia, from the sports management company Real Sports Management, highlights the importance of holding a sustainable World Cup in Mexico, "minimizing its environmental impact and promoting responsible practices in terms of waste management, resource consumption and transport".
Canada
Canada has never hosted the men's World Cup, although it tried to get the 1986 edition after Colombia, the original choice, said it could not host the tournament for financial reasons. The country chosen, on that occasion, was Mexico.
In Canada, the World Cup will have 13 games distributed between the cities of Toronto and Vancouver.
In Toronto, the World Cup will take place at the BMO Field stadium, which will be renovated to accommodate extra seats and will have a capacity of 45,000 seats. So far it is known that the cost for Toronto to host the World Cup is projected at US$380 million.
In Vancouver, the games will take place at BC Place, which has a capacity for 54,000 people and is also scheduled to be renovated for the World Cup.
USA
78 World Cup games will be held in the United States. Matches in the USA will take place in venues that were built specifically for NFL¹ (National Football League) matches. This presents a unique challenge as many venues use artificial grass surfaces for football and will need to be replaced with natural grass.
Lumen Field in Seattle has begun the process of replacing it with a natural grass surface. It's not the only place that will be changing the grass. BC Place in Canada, AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas), Mercedes Benz Stadium (Atlanta), MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford), Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Massachusetts), NRG Stadium (Houston) and SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, California) also will need to remove artificial grass surfaces and install natural grass for the finals.
Changing the grass is not the only adaptation being made by stadiums in the United States. NFL fields are 53.3 yards wide. FIFA requires a playing field to be at least 68 meters (74.4 yards) wide, with a total grass field area of at least 85 meters by 125 meters (93 yards by 136.7).
Several stadiums will undergo adjustments, also in relation to field dimensions. Especially SoFi in Southern California. Most, if not all, of the 11 US venues will have to undergo work to remove sideline and corner seats - temporarily and specifically for the World Cup. In any case, stadium costs are restricted to adjustments and adaptations, without new construction, which significantly reduces the costs involved.
PHOTO: PINTEREST
The final match of the World Cup will be held on July 19, 2026, at the MetLife Stadium, in New Jersey, with a capacity for 82,500 people.
Where to buy game tickets and how much do they cost?
For now, FIFA has not released information about match dates and ways to purchase tickets for the 2026 World Cup; However, on the organization's website there is already a registration for all interested parties – at this point you need to provide the following information: name, surname, email and language
By submitting this data, you agree to receive communications from FIFA with information about tickets for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the website says.
To register as interested in purchasing tickets for the 2026 FIFA Cup, click here.
Official ticket prices for the 2026 World Cup have not yet been revealed, but it is possible to get an idea: ticket prices for the FIFA Cup Qatar 2022 were offered from US$70.
How much does it cost to hold a World Cup?
Since the 1966 World Cup, held in England, only one tournament has generated more revenue than costs. Russia 2018 had a positive balance of around 240 million dollars, according to the study “The structural deficit of the Olympic Games and the World Championship: Comparing costs against revenues over time”, according to Müller, M. , Gogishvili, D., & Wolfe, SD ((2022 apud Pereira, 2023).
Before the Qatar Cup, the most expensive World Cup was held by Japan/South Korea, which spent more than US$7 billion in 2002. According to Müller, M., Gogishvili, D., & Wolfe, SD (2022 apud Pereira, 2023), Qatar invested around US$220 billion to organize the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the most expensive of all time.
For accounting, according to Müller, M., Gogishvili, D., & Wolfe, SD (2022 apud Pereira, 2023), the study considers two types of costs: construction/renovation of stadiums and organization. On the revenue side, tickets, sponsorships and television rights are accounted for, which, in the case of the Japanese/South Korean event, resulted in just over US$2 billion for the coffers. However, the study did not make reference to the World Cup's foreign exchange earnings, generated by tourism.
A Football World Cup is one of the most expensive mega-events in the world. Graphs of revenue and costs from World Cups up to the World Cup in Russia in 2018, presented by Müller, M., Gogishvili, D., & Wolfe, SD (2022 apud Pereira, 2023) will provide information in this regard.
The authors Müller, M., Gogishvili, D., & Wolfe, SD (2022) decided to include only direct revenues and direct costs, recognizing that the results may be different if we take into account indirect revenues and projected indirect costs in addition to hosting each World Cup. However, considering the uncertainties in these projections, these indirect revenues and indirect costs were not included.
A distinction can be made between direct revenues and costs, which can be immediately attributed to the holding of the event itself, such as operations and venues, and indirect revenues and costs, which support the holding of the event without being essential to it, such as expansion hotel capacity, new public transport, airport extensions, improvements in energy supply, among others. Their overall amount often exceeds that of direct costs. Müller, M., Gogishvili, D., & Wolfe, S. D. (2022).
The way costs are allocated also impacts results. The costs of building and renovating stadiums could be deducted over a longer period and it could be argued that these costs should not be attributed solely to the event that gave rise to them. On the other hand, stadiums built for mega-events often continue to be a financial burden for the hosts after the event Alm et al. (2016 apud Müller, M., Gogishvili, D., & Wolfe, SD, 2022), so it can be argue otherwise and claim that the actual costs exceed the construction cost.
The indirect revenues provided by the increase in tourist flow after the World Cup event, in consumption in restaurants, hotels, airline tickets, among others, are also difficult to project and know for how long after its completion, the media grandeur of a The Football World Cup could influence the tourist flow in the host country. There are also gains from investments in local infrastructure, such as transport networks and accessibility, benefiting residents with better living conditions in their cities.
COSTS AND REVENUES OF FOOTBALL WORLD CUPS (2018 DATA)
SOURCE: Müller, M., Gogishvili, D., & Wolfe, SD (2022 apud Pereira, 2023 - Finance Football)
NET BALANCE BETWEEN REVENUES AND COSTS OF FOOTBALL WORLD CUPS, IN BILLIONS OF DOLLARS (2018 VALUES)
SOURCE: Müller, M., Gogishvili, D., & Wolfe, SD (2022 apud Pereira, 2023 - Finance Football)
The decision of a country to apply to hold the World Cup mega-event is a complex commitment that must be guided, in short, by a careful analysis of its priorities and what it intends and hopes to achieve with its holding versus investment capacity. necessary to make it happen. Countries in economic difficulty, with low investment capacity and with great social needs and limited or precarious infrastructure and that need to build stadiums, would certainly better direct their resources received from taxes paid by the population, in qualifying and expanding the provision of services in education, in public health and safety, among other areas.
Müller, M., Gogishvili, D., & Wolfe, SD (2022 apud Pereira, 2023), highlighted that the results of the study have a certain limitation, as they do not include indirect revenues, indirect costs and their projections beyond the event. Despite this, they stated that historically the World Cups hardly pay the costs of their organizations.
The 2026 World Cup, to be held in 16 cities in three countries, will have the additional cost of another 40 matches in addition to those played in the last World Cup, but the host countries have stadiums and the general infrastructure situation is quite favorable.
The opening to cost mitigation by three host countries is positive news and helps to make the World Cup mega-event viable. It is expected that it will be successful, both sporting and economic.
By Luiz Cincurá
Grades:
¹ The National Football League is the professional American football league in the United States. It consists of 32 teams, divided equally between two conferences: the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference.
Sources:
ALM J, Solberg HA, Storm RK, Jakobsen TG (2016 ) Hosting major sports events: the challenge of taming white elephants . Leisure Studies 35(5): 564–582
CABRERA, Mario Alberto. GQ. World Cup 2026: how to buy tickets and how much does it cost? Available at: < https://www.gq.com.mx/articulo/mundial-2026-boletos-precios-cuando-salen-donde-comprar > Accessed on: April 25, 2024.
DAVIDSON, Neil. CBC. Canada to stage 13 games at 2026 FIFA World Cup between Toronto and Vancouver. Available at: < https://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/fifa-mens-world-cup-2026-canada-soccer-matches-1.7104623 > Accessed on: April 26, 2024.
DUNBAR, Graham. AP News. FIFA targets $11 billion in revenue through 2026 World Cup . Available at: < https://apnews.com/article/world-cup-sports-qatar-3551b3dacd7c35a4f7b50ecbb69abec5 > Accessed on: March 31, 2024.
ESPN. What the World Cup will look like in 2026: 48 teams, more groups, more venues, more games . Available at: < https://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/_/id/37637162/what-world-cup-look-2026-48-teams-more-groups-more-venues-more- games > Accessed on: April 16, 2024.
INSIDE FIFA. FIFA Council approves international match calendars . Available at: < https://inside.fifa.com/about-fifa/organisation/fifa-council/media-releases/fifa-council-approves-international-match-calendars > Accessed on: April 16, 2024.
MÜLLER, Martin, GOGISHVILI, David, & WOLFE, Sven Daniel (2022). The structural deficit of the Olympics and the World Cup: Comparing costs against revenues over time. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 54(6), 1200-1218. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X221098741
NBC SPORTS. What is the 2026 World Cup schedule? When and where are the games? How will it work? What is the format? Available at: < https://www.nbcsports.com/soccer/news/when-and-where-is-the-2026-world-cup > Accessed on April 17, 2024.
PEREIRA, Pedro. FINANCE FOOTBALL. How much does a World Cup cost . Available at: < https://financefootball.com/2023/10/28/how-much-does-a-world-cup-cost/ > Accessed on: April 17, 2024.
SBJ Sport Business Journal. Toronto's FIFA World Cup hosting costs rise to nearly $380M . Available at: < https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2024/02/27/toronto-2026-fifa-world-cup-cost > Accessed on: March 31, 2024.
TRAEDER. Viloa. DW. Will Mexico succeed as host of the 2026 World Cup? Available at: < https://www.dw.com/es/m%C3%A9xico-tiene-el-potencial-de-ser-un-excelente-anfitri%C3%B3n-del-mundial-2026/a- 68196746 > Accessed on: April 25, 2024.
USSOCCER. World Cup Returns to North America in 2026 - What You Should Know . Available at: < https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2018/06/world-cup-returns-to-north-america-in-2026--what-you-should-know > Accessed at: 17. April.2024.
VIJAYKUMAR. Ajit The National News. FIFA World Cup 2026 in US, Mexico and Canada: Venues, capacity and schedule . Available at: < https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2024/02/16/fifa-world-cup-2026-venues-capacity-schedule-usa-mexico-canada/ > Accessed on: 30. March.2024.
WIKIPEDIA. National Football League . Available at: < https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Football_League > Accessed on: April 6, 2024.
YAHOO NEWS. CBC. What you need to know about the World Cup coming to Vancouver in 2026. Available at: < https://ca.news.yahoo.com/know-world-cup-coming-vancouver-205023051.html > Accessed on: 26. April.2024.
Y! SPORTS. 2026 World Cup schedule: Everything we know about locations, dates, times, teams, tickets and more . Available at: < https://sports.yahoo.com/2026-world-cup-schedule-start-date-stadiums-cities-tickets-024548234.html > Accessed on: April 17, 2024.