2026: 5 Questions About the Upcoming World Cup

The 2026 FIFA World Cup logo

"Nous sommes, somos, we are 26." The World Cup is undoubtedly one of the most popular and best competitions in football. From the first-ever World Cup trophy lifted by Uruguay in 1930, to the current reigning champions Argentina in 2022, the World Cup has given us some of the most heartbreaking and genuinely unforgettable moments. But many eyebrows are raising because the next World Cup in 2026 will be hosted by three different countries (the first World Cup to do so): Mexico, the United States and Canada. And of course, many people are curious with questions in their minds trying to break free, so I will do my best to answer the top 5 questions about the 2026 World Cup. 1. How will the 2026 World Cup be different from others? FIFA has changed the group format for the 2026 World Cup. The alteration will lead to a men's football championship of marathon proportions, featuring 48 teams engaging in 104 games spread across nearly 40 days and spanning 16 cities in three countries. Additionally, both the champion and the runner-up, along with the third- and fourth-place teams, will compete in eight matches instead of the current seven. If you want me to simplify it for you, here it is: the 2026 World Cup will feel like a marathon, with the new 48 instead of 32 teams competing in a total of 104 games in 40 days, and the matches will take place in 16 different cities inside the three countries that will host the World Cup. I already think that this World Cup will be amazing. 2. Because the 2026 World Cup has 3 countries as the hosts, will there be World Cups like this? Yes, in fact, it's already been confirmed. On the 3rd of October, 2022, it was confirmed that Ukraine has joined the bid for the 2030 World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal. If all three teams win the bid, the 2030 World Cup will be the second World Cup to feature 3 teams hosting it. Martyn Ziegler has already confirmed on Twitter about this joint bid.

(From left to right) Vittorio Montagliani, Gianni Infantino, Colin Smith and Bryan Swanson

3. Who has been selected for the World Cup?

The 4 pots for the final draw have already been confirmed. We can see some new countries making their debut in the pots (the ones highlighted in yellow are making their debut). Here are the pots confirmed by FIFA: Pot 1: Mexico, United States, Canada, Brazil, Belgium, Argentina, France, England, Spain, Netherlands, Portugal, Denmark

Pot 2: Germany, Croatia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Colombia, Senegal, Wales, Iran, Serbia, Morocco, Peru, Japan

Pot 3: Sweden, Poland, Ukraine, South Korea, Chile, Tunisia, Costa Rica, Nigeria, Algeria, Australia, Egypt, Cameroon

Pot 4: Ecuador, Mali, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Panama, Ghana, Jamaica, North Macedonia, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, DR Congo, New Zealand As you can see, Egypt is now in the 2026 World Cup, meaning that Mo Salah can play for Egypt as their World Cup captain once again. New countries like Mali, Iraq, Jamaica, UAE and more are making their debut in the World Cup. 4. Will Ronaldo and Messi play in the 2026 World Cup? For Messi, it's a solid no. According to ESPN, Messi said that "he has no plans to play in the 2026 World Cup". Meaning that when 2026 comes around and Messi really doesn't want to play, Messi will have to be replaced by another Argentinian right winger just like how Lloris retired from playing for the French national team and was replaced by Mike Maignan. If only Garnacho was a right winger... As for Ronaldo, he said, according to dailysports.net, "First, I want to participate in Euro 2024. At the moment, my focus is on short-term and medium-term goals. We'll see what happens next," Ronaldo stated, as quoted by The Straits Times. However, Ronaldo and/or Messi might, MIGHT, change their minds and therefore result in a 2026 World Cup with the two GOATs (in their 30s). 5. Who are the players that everybody should definitely watch? There are a lot of players that are recommended to focus on and might do well in the World Cup, but these are the 10 best. For the sake of my tired fingers, I'm only going to list the top 3. You can see the rest at this website: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/sports/world-cup-2022/these-are-the-10-players-to-watch-in-the-2026-fifa-world-cup/4003328/ Anyways, here are the 3 best on the list.

Enzo Fernandez with the World Cup trophy in 2022

No. 3, Josko Gvardiol, Croatia Joško Gvardiol from Croatia was super awesome for his team! He played as a left-footed centre-back and he was only 20 years old! He played for Red Bulls Leipzig and he did a great job on the field. You know, left-footed centre-backs who are really fast, flexible, super skilled, and strong in the air are super rare in football! But Gvardiol was exactly that! And he still has so much more potential to become even better as he grows. Oh, and guess what? He scored a goal against Morocco in his game for third place in 2022! And in 2026, when the next tournament comes, he'll be the main player for the Vatreni (nickname for Croatia) team! He'll be the star and they'll try to go really far. There's another player named Jošip Sutalo, who's 22, and he might be Gvardiol's partner in defence. They would make a great team! No. 2, Enzo Fernandez, Argentina Like, winning the Young Player of the Tournament Award is awesome! Thomas Müller, Paul Pogba, and Mbappé were all super cool winners from the last three World Cups, and now Enzo Fernández is joining the list!

Fernández didn't start playing regularly for Argentina until the third group-stage game. But in the match against Mexico before that, the Benfica youngster scored an insanely cool curling goal to secure the win.

His play in the midfield was so impressive! He hardly ever made mistakes with the ball, always tried to move it forward, took awesome shots, and won his defensive battles. He was totally ready for a breakthrough tournament, and now he's gonna lead the La Albiceleste midfield in North America. No. 1, Kylian Mbappé, France The 2022 final was definitely a moment of passing the torch. I mean, we had Lionel Messi and Mbappé, and honestly, the next GOAT could already be here.

And check this out, Mbappé not only became one of the two teenagers to score in his first final, but he also pulled off a hat trick in his second final and tournament appearance. On top of that, he became the all-time leading scorer in World Cup Final history. Crazy, right?

He literally scored all three of France's goals in the 2022 final, and he was the only French player who seemed like he had it in him to find the back of the net throughout the entire game. This loss will definitely fuel his fire for 2026, especially with other young talents like Eduardo Camavinga, Ibrahima Konate, William Saliba, Moussa Diaby, and more potentially joining forces with him to make a comeback on the big stage. Well, that's all of them! Thank you for reading this blog post, and please like it because I took 2 days and 1 hour to write this, all with a very sick head and tired fingers.