The World Cup for normies
Everything you need to know about the 2026 FIFA World Cup
Today, it’s time for an explainer from guest contributor JR Katz. If you’re new, you can subscribe here. Views are JR’s own. Happy reading!
For the first time since 1994, the FIFA World Cup will be played on American soil, as the United States will co-host this year’s tournament with Canada and Mexico.
The action will begin on June 11 in Mexico City, with the final coming more than a month later on July 19 in New Jersey.
If you haven’t watched a second of soccer since the last tournament in Qatar, this article should get you up to speed on everything from a dominant Norwegian to some ridiculous ticket prices.
An expanded tournament means several new countries...
For the first time in World Cup history, 48 teams will be participating in the tournament. The 32-team format, used in seven tournaments from 1998 to 2022, has been retired to make way for 16 new spots.
Unsurprisingly, a massive increase in the number of countries has led to four teams making their first World Cup appearance: Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan.
Cape Verde, an island country off the coast of Africa, pulled off an upset to win their qualifying group over Cameroon, a country with eight World Cup appearances. They will be in Group H, which includes the reigning European champions, Spain.
Meanwhile, Curaçao benefited from a wide-open qualifying situation in CONCACAF1, thanks to Canada, Mexico and the USA automatically qualifying as the host countries. The island country never lost a qualifying match, picking up seven wins and three draws across ten matches. They will begin their World Cup journey in Group E against Germany.
Over in Asia, Jordan and Uzbekistan each finished second in the final round of qualifying needed to make the World Cup, placing behind South Korea and Iran, respectively. Jordan will be in Group J with Argentina, while Uzbekistan will face Portugal in Group K.
...but not Italy
On March 31, Italy missed the 2026 World Cup after suffering an upset against Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties.
Italy led the match 1-0 after 15 minutes, but a 41st-minute red card for an Italian defender swung the match towards Bosnia. They eventually tied the game in the 79th minute and went to penalties after the match remained tied after 120 minutes.
The result, quite remarkably, was the latest in a series of failures for the four-time World Cup champions. Italy failed to make the knockout phase in the 2010 and 2014 tournaments and didn’t even qualify for Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022. Interestingly enough, Italy did manage to win the European championship in 2021 during this World Cup cold streak.
There won’t be any matches (or official festivities) in the Washington, D.C. area
Sixteen North American cities made the cut for this World Cup, but none of them are the American capital.
However, even if D.C. won its bid, it wouldn’t have hosted any matches in its metro area. Due to the shoddy reputation of the Washington Commanders’ stadium in Landover, MD, the city submitted a joint bid with Baltimore. The Ravens’ M&T Bank Stadium was nominated for the matches, while the National Mall would have hosted festivities.
The closest host site to Baltimore/D.C. will be Philadelphia.
Tickets and transportation aren’t cheap
Imagine you’re someone looking for the cheapest way to see a World Cup match.
You don’t need to see Messi, Ronaldo, Brazil or anything glamorous like that, and you certainly won’t be picky with where you sit. You check the prices for the Ivory Coast vs. Curaçao, a match that doesn’t sound exciting for the casual fan, expecting something reasonable.
Then you see the cheapest ticket on Stubhub is currently going for over $200.
This is the current experience for anyone like me looking to attend a World Cup match in Philadelphia.
Of course, this experience isn’t unique to Philadelphia. The prices may differ from city to city, but it’s hard to find any tickets that most fans would consider a good value.
Some locations are even adding insult to injury with exorbitant prices for public transportation to the matches. A train ticket to New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium costs $105, while traveling from Boston to the area’s NFL stadium in nearby Foxborough isn’t cheap either.
Messi and Ronaldo are still around
The two most accomplished players of their generation each have at least one more World Cup up their sleeves.
The 38-year-old Lionel Messi of Argentina and the 41-year Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal will both be appearing in their sixth World Cup, 20 years removed from their first tournament in Germany.
While the duo are known for their epic battles in Spain’s La Liga, they’ve both moved on to less talented leagues in recent years. Messi has been in the USA’s Major League Soccer, while Ronaldo has opted for the Saudi Pro League.
While Messi and Ronaldo can go toe-to-toe for their accomplishments in La Liga, Argentina winning the 2022 World Cup gave Messi’s resume a pretty significant boost that Ronaldo will be hoping to match this year.
Erling Haaland will appear in his first major international tournament
Norwegian striker Erling Haaland has spent the past few years scoring goals and racking up trophies while playing for England’s Manchester City. Since the start of the 2022-23 season, Haaland has led the Premier League in goals in three different seasons while helping Man City win the Premier League, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League.
Now, Haaland finds himself as the star of Norway’s first World Cup team since 1998 and just the fourth Norwegian team to ever make the World Cup.
Norway earned their place by winning their group in qualifying, winning all eight matches while outscoring their opponents 37-5. Haaland scored 16 goals during those eight matches, including a five-goal performance against Moldova and a hat trick versus Israel.
While Norway’s qualifying was a walk in the park, they don’t exactly have a forgiving group for the World Cup. Their biggest challenge will be France, which won the 2018 World Cup and reached the final in 2022. Senegal, which “won” the Africa Cup of Nations in January2, will also be a formidable opponent for Haaland’s Norway.
Brazil will be counting on a very accomplished manager
Sticking with the theme of historic nations that have recently underwhelmed, Brazil is hoping that manager Carlo Ancelotti can lead them to their first World Cup title since 2002.
Ancelotti, who was hired in May 2025, comes with a remarkable resume: he has won each of the five major European leagues and has also won the UEFA Champions League five times.
While Ancelotti’s resume is certainly spectacular, this will still be his first time managing a national team. Taking charge of a national team presents unique challenges compared to a club team, such as the fact that you can’t just buy players to improve your roster.
If Brazil does well, hiring Ancelotti will seem like a no-brainer. However, if he underwhelms, Brazil could face criticism for picking a flashy hire over someone with prior experience in international tournaments.
Let me know in the comments if you have any thoughts on who will make it to the final!
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Read the full Gen Z Dictionary here.
CONCACAF stands for the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football and is the soccer governing body for the regions listed in its title.
Senegal’s on-field victory over Morocco was retroactively ruled as a forfeit by Senegal.