The FIFA Globe Cup, usually known as the World Cup, is an international football tournament held by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and contested by men’s national teams from across the world.
FIFA is the international governing organization for the sport. The World Cup is the world’s most renowned association football competition and the most-watched athletic event, surpassing even the Olympics.
The World Cup was first held in 1930 and has been held every four years since, except for 1942 and 1946 due to World War II. Only eight teams have won the World Cup in the 21 editions that have taken place.
Brazil has won five times, Germany and Italy have each won four times, Argentina and Uruguay have each won twice, while England and Spain have each won once. Since 1930, Brazil is the only team to have competed in every World Cup.
The World Cup structure includes a qualifying process, known as the “World Cup finals,” that takes place three years before the actual event.
During the World Cup finals, 32 teams play for a month at sites in the host countries, including the automatically qualifying host countries.
The FIFA Council chooses the host country via a lengthy balloting process. A country’s national football association gets a “Hosting Agreement” defining the criteria and actions required from a bid, as well as a document to be filed as an official confirmation of candidacy.
FIFA then sends inspectors to the nation to assess whether it complies with the standards and provide a report.
Typically, host country decisions are made and revealed six to seven years before the event. Qatar was chosen as the host nation for the 2022 World Cup, making it the first in the Middle East.
The FIFA World Cup in 2026 will be the 23rd and first to be held by more than two nations. The United States, Canada, and Mexico will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The event will be held in sixteen cities across three nations.
In the United States, sixty matches will be played, including the quarterfinals, semi-finals, and final. In Canada and Mexico, ten matches will be held. The World Cup will be expanded from 32 teams to 48 teams in 2026.
The United 2026 bid was created by the three nations, and it defeated Morocco in the final vote at the 68th FIFA Congress in Moscow.
The tournament was last held by the United States in 1994, while Mexico is hosting or co-hosting for the third time, and Canada is hosting or co-hosting for the first time.