500 days until the 2026 World Cup! Here’s what’s coming next

ARLINGTON, Texas — Monday marked 500 days until the kickoff of literally the biggest sporting spectacle the world has ever seen. 

On June 11, 2026, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will get underway from Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

This next iteration of the World Cup is bigger than it has ever been, with the field expanding from 32 teams to 48 teams. FIFA says it expects more than 5 million soccer fans from around the world to come to North America and attend the 104-match tournament. 

Among the 16 host cities, Arlington’s AT&T Stadium will host nine matches, more than all the other 15: five group stage matches, two round of 32 matches, one round of 16 match and one of the two semifinals.

As host nations, the United States, Mexico and Canada automatically get to compete. We broke down where they’ll play all of their matches in the 2026 FIFA World Cup here. Who else will be in this World Cup? Well, that’s part of the exciting news to come in 2025. FIFA qualifying matches will be taking place all over the world in March, June, September and November.

By the end of the year, the field of teams will start to become finalized. 

Here is where the teams in the World Cup will be coming from:

• AFC (Asia): 8 teams
• CAF (Africa): 9 teams
• Concacaf (North and Central America, plus the Caribbean): United States, Mexico, Canada + 3 more teams
• CONMEBOL (South America): 6 teams
• OFC (Oceania): 1 team
• UEFA (Europe): 16 teams
• Inter-confederation playoff: 2 teams
  • Two teams will get the final spots via a six-team tournament played out among one AFC team, one CAF team, two CONCACAF teams, one CONMEBOL team and one OFC team. UEFA does not get a team in the playoff.

When is FIFA qualifying? 

• AFC (Asia): The next slate of FIFA qualifying matches is in late March. AFC’s qualifying process ends in mid-November.
• CAF (Africa): The next slate of FIFA qualifying matches is in late March. CAF’s qualifying process ends in mid-November. 
• Concacaf (North and Central America, plus the Caribbean):  United States, Mexico, Canada have all been given auto bids as host nations. The next slate of FIFA qualifying matches is in early June. CONCACAF’s qualifying process for its last three slots ends in mid-November.
• CONMEBOL (South America): The next slate of FIFA qualifying matches is in late March. CONMEBOL’s qualifying process ends in September.
• OFC (Oceania): The next slate of FIFA qualifying matches is in late March. The OFC’s representative will be crowned on March 24. This will likely be the first team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup field.
• UEFA (Europe): The next slate of FIFA qualifying matches is in late March. UEFA’s qualifying process ends in March 2026, just months before the FIFA World Cup begins. 
• Inter-confederation playoff: The six teams remaining from their respective conferences will fight for the final two spots in March 2026.

One of the next crowning accomplishments that the Dallas Sports Commission is trying to seal the deal on is getting FIFA’s International Broadcast Center –  the temporary home for television and radio reporters during the World Cup. The IBC would bring anywhere between 2,500 and 5,000 broadcasters from around the world to DFW. And the proposed site for the IBC is the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

In December, city council approved a $15 million package intended to fund the necessary upgrades for the building to meet FIFA’s regulations. 

According to FIFA, events from the World Cup (including the IBC and FIFA Fan Festival) are expected to generate $2 billion in economic revenue.

FIFA has yet to make its own official announcement for the IBC, but their decision is expected to be made soon.

A press conference scheduled for the morning of the Dec. 11 city council meeting was postponed because “there is a lot of great news that [FIFA] wanted to share, but they really thought it was best to share all at once,” according to Rosa Fleming, Director of Convention and Event Services. FIFA suggested holding off and “doing a bigger press conference later” in late January-early February, Fleming said.

Dallas previously hosted the IBC when the 1994 World Cup was in the U.S. and was held in Fair Park.

In addition to the IBC, there are venues all over the metroplex that will serve the competing nations coming to North Texas. This includes base camp locations and training venues. We won’t know which nations will call North Texas home for quite some time since qualifying doesn’t wrap up until the fall, but we do know where they’ll be:

• Base camps: Dallas Baptist University, Toyota Stadium, University of Dallas, TCU
• Training venues: Cotton Bowl Stadium, SMU

By April 2026, teams will finalize their base camp selections.

In 1994, 68,600 people attended World Cup matches, on average, according to Statista. That record stands to this day. The World Cup with the next highest average attendance, per Statista, was the 1950 World Cup in Brazil with 60,700 people per match. Brazil’s 2014 iteration came in third with 53,700 people per match.

FIFA Fan Fest will be held in every host city. For Dallas, it will be held at Fair Park.

City leaders estimate that 34 days in Dallas will attract millions of fans, a similar drawing to what Fair Park sees during the State Fair of Texas every year. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar averaged 70,000 fans per day, with the largest daily attendance at 98,000. That would bring an estimated 2.3 million people to DFW over the course of those 34 days. 

For context, the State Fair of Texas brought in 2.3 million people in 24 days, with the highest attended day being Oct. 7, the Red River Rivalry, seeing just over 208,000. Weekend days throughout the State Fair of Texas see more than 122,000 people per day.