2026 FIFA World Cup: Three Hosts, One Epic Tournament

The World Cup has come back to North America, bigger and louder than ever. Forty-eight teams. Three host nations. A month and a bit of football stretched across a continent that still insists on calling it “soccer.”

From Mexico City to New York, Toronto to Los Angeles, this 2026 edition is already rewriting the script. The expanded format, in place for the first time, drags the tournament into a new era: more games, more cities, more chances for chaos. It also brings an opening unlike anything the competition has seen before — not one curtain-raiser, but three.

Three hosts, three stages, one global spotlight

The first act belongs, fittingly, to Mexico City.

On Thursday, the Estadio Azteca — a cathedral of the sport — stages the opening ceremony ahead of the Group A clash between Mexico and South Africa. Shakira and Burna Boy will lead the show, performing “Dai Dai,” the official song of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, in a production that starts at 11:30 a.m. local time (1:30 p.m. ET).

They will be joined by a stacked Latin American lineup drawn from the tournament’s first-ever official album: Alejandro Fernández, Belinda, Danny Ocean, J Balvin, Lila Downs, Los Ángeles Azules, Maná and Tyla, FIFA says. A World Cup that spans a continent starts with a soundtrack built to match its scale.

Then the attention swings north.

On Friday in Toronto, a freshly bulked-up BMO Field — expanded from 28,000 to 45,000 seats — hosts Canada’s first-ever World Cup match on home soil, a Group B meeting with Bosnia and Herzegovina at 3 p.m. ET. Ninety minutes before kick-off, at 1:30 p.m. ET, Canada will stage its own opening ceremony, fronted by Alanis Morissette, Alessia Cara, Jessie Reyez, Michael Bublé and others. The Great White North, long a peripheral player in the global game, steps into the glare with a full arena and a full bill.

The United States joins the party later that day in Los Angeles.

At SoFi Stadium, the U.S. Men’s National Team opens its campaign against Paraguay at 6 p.m. local time (9 p.m. ET). The U.S. ceremony is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. local (7:30 p.m. ET), with Katy Perry, Future, Anitta, LISA, Rema and Tyla headlining what FIFA President Gianni Infantino describes as a celebration of the country’s cultural diversity and its influence on music and pop culture.

Three ceremonies. Three nights. One message: this World Cup wants to feel like a rolling festival as much as a football tournament.

Mexico–South Africa: a World Cup déjà vu

Once the fireworks fade in Mexico City, the football takes over.

On Thursday, June 11, Mexico and South Africa kick off Group A at 2 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET) in a fixture that carries a familiar date and a familiar pairing. The two sides met on June 11, 2010, in Johannesburg to open that World Cup, playing out a 1-1 draw that echoed around Soccer City.

This time, the roles are reversed. Mexico has the home advantage, the Azteca crowd, and the weight of expectation that comes with both. South Africa returns to the global stage as a spoiler, trying to quiet one of the noisiest venues in the sport.

Later on Thursday, at Akron Stadium in Zapopan near Guadalajara, South Korea face Czechia at 9 p.m. local time (11 p.m. ET) in the other Group A match. It is the kind of fixture that often shapes a group quietly, away from the opening-night glare, but can define who survives and who goes home early.

On Friday, the narrative shifts to Group B, where Canada’s meeting with Bosnia and Herzegovina at 3 p.m. ET marks a landmark moment: Canada’s first World Cup match at home.

And in Los Angeles, the U.S. returns to a stage it hasn’t seen in more than three decades. The last time the USMNT played a World Cup match on home soil was July 4, 1994, a 1-0 loss to eventual champions Brazil in the Round of 16. Now they re-emerge in brand-new Nike kits, inspired by past jerseys — including the striped design that became iconic 32 years ago.

The opposition this time is Paraguay. The stakes feel familiar: prove that the sport has moved forward in a country still dominated by other games.

A World Cup under guard

The size of the tournament has forced a security operation to match.

The FBI has deployed tactical teams to Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, as those cities brace for an unprecedented influx of fans. FBI Director Kash Patel said the crisis response teams will support the “massive security work” required to protect players, supporters and visitors.

In practical terms, that means fans heading to venues like Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, have been warned they may need to arrive more than an hour early just to clear security, CBS Boston reported.

Marlo Graham, special agent in charge of the FBI Atlanta field office, told CBS Atlanta that the planning mirrors other large-scale events, with one key difference: this one runs for 39 days. Tactical teams from multiple agencies have been training together for months.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will also be involved. White House border czar Tom Homan told CBS News that ICE’s “primary focus” during the tournament will be national security, not immigration enforcement.

All of this plays out against the backdrop of a more-than-yearlong effort by the Trump administration to tighten entry into the U.S., a policy shift that has already touched the tournament. Over the weekend, Customs and Border Protection barred Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan — who had been slated to officiate at the World Cup — from entering the country, citing “vetting concerns.” FIFA confirmed he was denied entry but did not disclose the reason.

The world’s game is arriving in a country still arguing over its borders.

Bags, bottles and the battle over heat

Inside the stadiums, the rules are strict and, in some cases, contentious.

FIFA’s stadium code of conduct bans nontransparent bags and hazardous items such as weapons, body protection gear, helmets, umbrellas, strollers and chairs. The organization also initially moved to block “bottles, cups, jars, cans or any other form of closed or capped receptacle that may be thrown or cause injury,” along with branded water bottles.

In a tournament staged in the heart of summer, that last part set off alarm bells among fans worried about extreme heat — and about being forced to buy everything inside the ground.

“What next? Suncream banned and fans forced to buy it in stadiums?” the Free Lions, an English supporters’ group, wrote on X, calling it “just the latest money-grab.”

The backlash worked, at least partially. FIFA World Cup 2026 Chief Operating Officer Heimo Schirgi later clarified on social media that each spectator in stadiums in the U.S. and Canada may bring in one soft, plastic, disposable, factory-sealed water bottle of up to 20 ounces. Hard reusable bottles remain prohibited.

Inside the venues, beverages — water, sodas and juices — will be supplied exclusively by long-time FIFA sponsor Coca-Cola, The Associated Press reported. The commercial footprint is as carefully controlled as the security perimeter.

“Absolutely egregious”: the price of being there

The expanded format means more stadiums — 16 in total — and more chances for fans to see the World Cup in person. The catch is the cost.

Ticket prices for group-stage matches have surged into the hundreds and, for some fixtures, the thousands of dollars. For many supporters, the dream of seeing a World Cup match in their own country now comes with a brutal reality check.

“It’s an absolutely punishing number with regards to the ticket prices to get into a game,” said Phil Labas, captain of the Chicago chapter of the American Outlaws, a 30,000-strong U.S. supporters’ group.

Labas told CBS News he has attended nearly every U.S. Soccer event over the past four years. This time, the numbers have pushed even the most committed fans to the upper reaches of the stadium.

“We’re in the 300 section. We are upper deck in a corner … It’s an absolute travesty,” he said.

The outrage hasn’t dampened the determination. The American Outlaws will still turn up, even if they are a long way from the pitch.

“You’ll hear us, you’ll see us if they pan up, but we will absolutely be there,” Labas said.

The World Cup has always been expensive. On home soil, for many, it now feels like a once-in-a-lifetime event that might still be out of reach.

Who can go all the way?

While supporters wrestle with travel plans and ticket prices, bettors and analysts are already playing out the tournament on paper.

The 2026 World Cup is expected to become one of the biggest gambling events in history, and one voice has drawn particular attention: German economist Joachim Klement, who has correctly predicted the last three World Cup winners. Speaking to CBS News’ Ramy Inocencio, Klement named the Netherlands as his pick for 2026 — a choice that cuts against the usual favorites.

He places the Dutch ahead of heavyweights like France, Spain, England and Brazil, arguing that the Netherlands belongs among the “constant outperformers.” The Oranje have reached three World Cup finals — in 1974, 1978 and 2010 — without lifting the trophy.

Klement’s case is simple and coldly logical. He believes this Dutch side lacks a single megastar in the Lionel Messi mold but gains from a consistently high level across the squad, with “no real weak spot.” He also leans on an old football truism: offense wins matches, defense wins tournaments. In his view, the Netherlands has the defensive platform to last deep into July.

For the United States, his verdict is mixed.

Drawn in Group D with Paraguay, Australia and Turkey, the USMNT finds itself in a group Klement considers evenly balanced. That gives the Americans a realistic shot at reaching the knockout rounds and, potentially, pushing as far as the quarterfinals.

The ceiling, he suggests, is capped by something less tactical and more cultural.

“The U.S. has so many sports that compete for the talent pool that it isn’t really the dominating, most important sport in the U.S.,” he said. In Europe and Latin America, football sits alone at the top of the pyramid. In America, it still jostles for space.

The biggest World Cup ever staged is about to kick off across three nations that are still, in very different ways, figuring out their relationship with the game. The stadiums are ready, the security cordons are drawn, the tickets have tested wallets to the limit — and the ball has not yet rolled.

Now the question hangs over North America: with the world watching, who will rise to the moment, and who will discover that hosting the tournament is the easy part?