Follow usHosting nations of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Canada, Mexico and the United States will all receive automatic berths for the tournament, the world soccer’s governing body said.
The three countries have been fast-tracked to the final round of the competition which is set to expand from 32 teams to 48 for the first time.
“The FIFA Council confirmed that, in line with the long-standing tradition of having all hosts competing at the FIFA World Cup, as well as sporting and operational considerations, the hosts of the FIFA World Cup 2026, namely Canada, Mexico and the USA, will qualify automatically for the final round of the competition, with their slots therefore being deducted from the overall allocation of six assigned to CONCACAF,” FIFA said in a statement.
FIFA has historically given host nations the right to play in the World Cup without having to go through qualification tournaments, though this is the first time FIFA had to set aside three spots.
As a result of the automatic progression, another three places will go to Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) nations via qualifying.
The 2026 World Cup does not have exact dates set but it is set to be held from June to July in that year across 16 venues.
It will be the first time since 2002 that the tournament is being held by more than one nation, after Japan and South Korea’s hosting.
The US and Mexico have qualified for most men’s World Cups in recent editions but Canada only made their first appearance in 36 years at Qatar 2022.
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