Next year, the FIFA World Cup will be held simultaneously in Canada, Mexico, and the USA for the first time in history. The tournament will span 16 stadiums, and 48 teams will participate. UNN reports on the tournament format, which stadiums will host matches, and Ukraine's chances of reaching the final stage of the World Cup.
Venue
The 23rd FIFA World Cup will take place next year from June 11 to July 19, for the first time simultaneously in three countries: Canada, Mexico, and the USA.
In June 2018, at the 68th FIFA Congress in Moscow, these countries received the most votes during the selection process for the tournament host.
Interestingly, Canada will host the main football tournament for the first time in history; it will be the first time the championship is held in 3 countries simultaneously; Mexico has become the first country in history to host the World Cup for the third time.
Stadiums
The World Cup will be held in 16 stadiums: 11 in the USA, 3 in Mexico, and 2 in Canada.
The only stadium that has previously hosted FIFA World Cup matches is "Azteca" in Mexico City, where matches of the 1970 and 1986 World Cups were held. Moreover, the World Cup will open with a match at this very stadium.
The "Azteca" stadium in Mexico City can accommodate over 87,000 spectators
The final match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup will take place in New Jersey at MetLife Stadium.
MetLife Stadium seats 82,500 spectators and is traditionally used for NFL games, having hosted its first football match in May 2010.
MetLife is the home arena for the New York Giants and New York Jets.
MetLife, where the World Cup final will be held
Format
For the first time, 48 teams will participate in the World Cup instead of 32. Also, for the first time in World Cup history, there will be a round of 1/16 finals.
The competition will be held in a format of 12 groups of 4 teams. Two teams from each group and the 8 best third-placed teams will advance to the playoffs. On average, 6 matches will be played each day.
Currently, 42 participants of the tournament are known, with 6 spots still vacant.
List of participants
The Ukrainian national team, as a participant in the qualification playoffs, has been placed in the last fourth pot.
This guarantees that in the group stage, Ukrainians will not play against Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, as well as two winners of the intercontinental playoffs and three more teams that will advance from the European playoffs.
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Ukraine at the World Cups
The Ukrainian national team, thanks to a victory over Iceland in the last qualifying round, managed to take second place in the group, which allows them to play in the qualification playoffs.
Ukraine will face Sweden in the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. If they win, Ukraine will play in the final against the winner of the Poland – Albania pair.
The semi-finals will take place on March 26, 2026, and the finals on March 31 of next year.
Interestingly, in its history, Ukraine has only played in the World Cup once. This was at the 2006 World Cup, which was held in Germany.
Then Ukraine managed to reach the 1/4 finals, where they were heavily defeated by the future champions of the Mundial - Italy (3:0).
It should be noted that at that championship, the Ukrainian goalkeeper, and now the head coach of Kyiv "Dynamo" Oleksandr Shovkovskyi, set a unique achievement that lasted for 16 years.
In the 1/8 match, Ukraine met the Swiss national team. The match ended in a goalless draw in regular time and went into a penalty shootout. Shovkovskyi then saved all shots in the series, keeping his goal "clean."
In the 1/8 finals of the 2022 World Cup, the Moroccan national team defeated the Spanish national team in a penalty shootout — (0:0, 3:0 on penalties).
The hero of that match was the African national team's goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, who saved all three of Spain's penalty kicks, thereby making history in World Cups.
He repeated the record of the Ukrainian national team's goalkeeper Oleksandr Shovkovskyi.
"This World Cup has already been sensational with some unexpected results for many football fans. I hope there's more to come... But today I congratulate the Moroccan national team on a fantastic advancement to the quarterfinals. And the goalkeeper on a brilliant performance," Shovkovskyi wrote on Instagram at the time.
World Cup Symbols
The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has unveiled the official mascots for the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. The tournament's mascots will be Maple the moose, Zayu the jaguar, and Clutch the bald eagle, symbolizing the three host countries of the tournament.
"As part of a celebration as bold and innovative as the tournament itself, FIFA today unveiled the three official mascots for the FIFA World Cup 2026, each symbolizing one of the host countries of the world's biggest sporting event. Maple the moose (Canada), Zayu the jaguar (Mexico), and Clutch the bald eagle (USA) have been carefully designed to reflect the vibrant culture, heritage, and spirit of their respective nations, uniting to symbolize unity, diversity, and a shared passion for the beautiful game," FIFA stated.
World Cup Records
The Brazilian national team is the only team to have won the tournament 5 times (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002). Brazilians are also the only national team to have participated in all final stages of the World Cups without exception.
The Brazilian national team with the World Cup trophy after winning the 2002 final against Germany
Brazil's closest pursuer is Germany, which has won the trophy 4 times. At the same time, Germany has reached the World Cup final 8 times and lost four times.
The German national team celebrates victory in the 2014 final against Argentina
Brazil national team forward Pelé is the only player in history to have won three World Cups. However, in 1962, he only played in two matches and received the medal for that tournament only in 2007. He also holds the record for the youngest goal scorer in a World Cup. When Pelé scored against the Wales national team at the 1958 World Cup, he was only 17 years, seven months, and 27 days old.
Pelé with three World Cup trophies
The most goals in the final stages of World Cups were scored by German striker Miroslav Klose. The top scorer in World Cup history scored 16 goals: five at the 2002 World Cup, five at the 2006 World Cup, four at the 2010 World Cup, and two more at the 2014 World Cup.
Miroslav Klose scores his 16th World Cup goal, initiating the rout of Brazil in the 2014 World Cup semi-final (7:1)
However, Klose's achievement may soon be surpassed by Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé, who already has 12 goals to his name.
Kylian Mbappé celebrates the French national team's victory in the 2018 World Cup final against Croatia