With the FIFA World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico fast approaching, we’ve put together a fact file purely about the tournament, with stats and figures that might just surprise you. Trivia buffs out there might already be able to tell us a lot of these, but if not, consider this article a top-up for any pub quiz you do between now and June.
It’s the first World Cup to feature 48 teams
This summer’s tournament is officially the biggest World Cup of all time. A total of 48 teams from around the world have qualified, which makes for a staggering 104 different matches, and a competition that extends between 11th June and 19th July.
That’s 39 days of international football competition, with teams divided into 12 groups in the initial stage. It’s a marked increase from the usual 32-team setup, meaning that the size of the competition has expanded by 50%.
It’s being hosted by three different nations
This summer’s World Cup will be making even more firsts thanks to the way that the hosting is split. As mentioned, hosting duties are split between the US, Canada and Mexico this time around, and it’s the first time ever that three nations have shared the home turf.
The World Cup will, in fact, open in Mexico City on 11th June, and at the end of the tournament, the final will take place in New Jersey on 19th July. That’s a whole stack of World Cup scores to keep track of on platforms such as LiveScore across the globe for just over a month.
The prize money is going up by 50%
It’s only fair to assume that, with more teams to play against each other, the ultimate prize pool will also increase. This time around, the top prize for the World Cup champions sits at £37.4m, with another £24.7m awarded to the runners-up.
Even just for qualifying, teams will receive £6.7m, meaning that there will still be a more than reasonable payday if you don’t get out of the group stage. Also, every qualified team gets an extra £1.1m to help them prepare.
This all adds up to an eye-watering total of £544.8m being offered to teams as part of the overall prize fund.
Several nations are making their World Cup debuts
With the number of teams participating in this year’s World Cup reaching an all-time high, it’s also not surprising that there are a few nations that have never participated in the competition before.
In particular, eyes across the world will be watching Uzbekistan, Curaçao, Cape Verde and Jordan, all of whom are complete newcomers to the world stage.
What’s more, Italy have failed to qualify for the tournament for the third time in a row, meaning that while there may be some fresh faces, some of the most talented players in the world will be missing out this summer. The Italian side fell to Bosnia and Herzegovina in a penalty shoot-out.
Canada is another interesting case. The Canadian national side have, naturally, qualified for the 2026 World Cup because the country is helping to host it. However, it’s only the third time in the history of the men’s tournament that they’ve made it through to the group stage. It’s also Canada’s first time hosting the tournament, marking another big landmark moment for the country since the Canadian Premier League was set up in 2017.
The new format is likely to create all kinds of new stats and figures
What’s exciting for fans about this year’s World Cup is that the expanded format, new teams and bigger prizes will all create new statistics worth remembering for years to come. Who, for example, will be the new biggest prize winner at the FIFA World Cup? Will there be another ‘Hand of God’ moment in Mexico this time around? Who will have won the most matches or scored the most goals in the tournament’s history, given the extended format of the 2026 setup?
We’ll know about all of these points (and more) by the middle of the summer. For now, we’re all looking forward to what’s promised to be the biggest international football tournament of all time, and we really don’t have that long left to wait until it all kicks off. Who are you getting behind?
