Mashable: 48 teams will be taking part in the quadrennial tournament

FIFA World Cup 2026 final dates have been announced.

FIFA recently announced the final date and number of matches to be played at the upcoming 2026 World Cup.

The United States, Canada, and Mexico will co-host the quadrennial tournament in 2026.

On March 14, 2023, FIFA took to its official Twitter account and declared that the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the host to the first-ever 48-team edition.

The governing body also announced when the final will take place as well as the format for the next quadrennial tournament.

Announcing the date for the first-ever 48-team edition, FIFA wrote the tournament will feature, “12 groups of four” with “the top two and eight best third-placed teams” processing to a Round of 32.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup finals will be played on Sunday, July 19, 2026.

As per Khaleej Times, the global soccer governing body FIFA said on Tuesday that the upcoming global tournament will have a total of 104 matches instead of the traditional 64 games. This announcement came after its Congress in Kigali, Rwanda, and the change is due to the expanded format with 48 teams taking part.

The 2026 edition will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico with the final match taking place on July 19.

FIFA in a statement said that this revised format “mitigates the risk of collusion” and also ensures that “all the teams play a minimum of three matches” while giving balanced rest time in between for the teams competing in the tournament.

The 2022 World Cup Qatar had a total of 32 teams that played 64 matches in 29 days. Previously when Mexico and the United States hosted the World Cup in 1986 and 1994 respectively, there were only 24 teams.