2026 FIFA World Cup: A Historic Celebration Across Three Nations

The biggest World Cup in history has finally landed on North American soil, and the continent is bracing for a month‑long roar.

From Mexico City’s high-altitude cauldron to the glass-and-steel sprawl of New York and the lakeside chill of Toronto, 48 national teams are about to stretch the World Cup into something the sport has never quite seen before. The familiar 32-team format, in place since 1998, has been shelved. In its place: an expanded field, three host nations and a schedule that will test players, organizers and fans in equal measure.

For the first time, one of the world’s most-watched events belongs to three countries at once.

Three hosts, three opening nights

The tournament doesn’t so much start as detonate in stages.

Mexico goes first. On Thursday at the Estadio Azteca, before Mexico and South Africa reprise their 2010 curtain-raiser, the World Cup will open with a show designed for a global audience and a fiercely proud local one. Shakira and Burna Boy will perform “Dai Dai,” the official song of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, in a ceremony scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. local time (1:30 p.m. ET).

They won’t be alone. FIFA’s first-ever World Cup album spills onto the stage, with Alejandro Fernández, Belinda, Danny Ocean, J Balvin, Lila Downs, Los Ángeles Azules, Maná and Tyla among those named for the Azteca show. A football match will follow at 2 p.m. local (3 p.m. ET), but the stadium will feel like a music festival long before the first whistle.

On Friday, the party shifts north.

Toronto’s BMO Field has been ripped up and rebuilt for this moment, its capacity pushed from 28,000 to 45,000 to cope with demand. Canada, hosting Bosnia and Herzegovina in its first World Cup match on home soil, will stage its own opening ceremony 90 minutes before kick-off at 3 p.m. ET. At 1:30 p.m. ET, Alanis Morissette, Alessia Cara, Jessie Reyez, Michael Bublé and others will turn the “Great White North” into a World Cup stage.

Then comes Hollywood.

Also on Friday, Los Angeles hosts the United States’ opening ceremony as the U.S. Men’s National Team meets Paraguay at SoFi Stadium. The show is set for 4:30 p.m. local time (7:30 p.m. ET), fronted by Katy Perry, Future, Anitta, LISA, Rema and Tyla. FIFA President Gianni Infantino framed the lineup as a deliberate snapshot of American diversity, saying it reflects the country’s cultural mix, its diasporas and its reach in music, entertainment and pop culture.

Three hosts. Three ceremonies. One tournament trying to be bigger than anything that came before it.

Group A déjà vu and Canada’s home debut

Once the fireworks clear, the football finally takes over.

At the Azteca, Mexico and South Africa will open Group A at 2 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET) on Thursday in a fixture soaked in nostalgia. The date is the same as in 2010, when South Africa launched its home World Cup with a 1-1 draw against El Tri in Johannesburg. Sixteen years on, the roles reverse: Mexico at home, South Africa the visitors, and the sense that the hosts carry both the pressure and the advantage.

Later that night, at 9 p.m. local (11 p.m. ET), South Korea and Czechia meet at Akron Stadium in Zapopan, near Guadalajara, to round out the first day in Group A. Different styles, different continents, and a neutral venue that may quietly become one of the more atmospheric stops of this World Cup.

Friday belongs to Group B and a nation that has waited a lifetime for this.

Canada vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto at 3 p.m. ET is more than just a fixture; it is Canada’s first World Cup match at home. A transformed BMO Field, a national anthem sung a little louder than usual, and a fan base that has watched World Cups from afar finally stepping into the center of the story.

On the other side of the border, the U.S. returns to a stage it hasn’t seen in three decades. The USMNT’s meeting with Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles kicks off at 6 p.m. local time (9 p.m. ET). The last time the Americans played a World Cup match at home was July 4, 1994, a narrow 1-0 defeat to eventual champions Brazil in the Round of 16.

They’ll do it this time in new kits that lean heavily on nostalgia. Nike says the design pulls from past jerseys, including the striped look from that 1994 run. A nod to history, worn by a generation trying to write its own.

A World Cup under tight watch

Off the pitch, the scale of this tournament has forced the United States to think big in a very different way.

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. With these cities preparing to welcome unprecedented crowds, FBI Director Kash Patel described the units as crisis response experts drafted in to support the “massive security work” required to protect players, fans and visitors.

The message to supporters is clear: arrive early, expect scrutiny. Fans heading to matches at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, may need to be in place more than an hour before kick-off to clear security, according to local reports.

Marlo Graham, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Atlanta field office, said the World Cup planning mirrors preparations for other major events, with one key difference: this one stretches over 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 said ICE’s “primary focus” during the tournament will be national security rather than immigration enforcement, a notable stance given the political backdrop.

The World Cup arrives after a more-than-yearlong push by the Trump administration to tighten U.S. entry rules, a campaign that has already brushed against the tournament. Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan, selected to officiate at the World Cup, was denied entry to the United States over the weekend. Customs and Border Protection cited “vetting concerns,” and FIFA confirmed the decision without disclosing details.

The message is unmistakable: this will be a World Cup played under a sharper security spotlight than any before it on American soil.

What fans can and can’t bring

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

FIFA’s stadium code of conduct bans nontransparent bags and a range of hazardous items, including weapons, body protection gear, helmets, umbrellas, strollers and chairs. That part is standard. The initial clampdown on containers was not.

The organization originally prohibited “bottles, cups, jars, cans or any other form of closed or capped receptacle that may be thrown or cause injury,” and barred branded water bottles altogether. With matches scheduled in the height of summer, the backlash came quickly.

Fan groups bristled at the idea of supporters locked into stadium concessions for basic hydration. The Free Lions, an English supporters’ group, voiced the anger bluntly on X, asking, “What next? Suncream banned and fans forced to buy it in stadiums?” and calling it “the latest money-grab.”

Under pressure, FIFA adjusted. Heimo Schirgi, Chief Operating Officer for World Cup 2026, clarified on social media that each spectator in U.S. and Canadian venues will be allowed one soft, plastic, disposable, factory-sealed water bottle of up to 20 ounces. Hard reusable bottles remain off-limits.

Inside the grounds, drinks are locked down by commercial reality. Beverages, including water, sodas and juices, will be supplied exclusively by long-time FIFA sponsor Coca-Cola, according to the Associated Press.

Fans can come. Their voices can come. Their own refillable bottles, for now, cannot.

A World Cup for the wealthy?

If the stadium rules have sparked debate, the ticket prices have ignited fury.

With 16 stadiums in play, this World Cup offers more seats than ever before. That doesn’t mean more bargains. Group-stage tickets have surged into the hundreds and, for some fixtures, thousands of dollars. For many, the dream of watching a World Cup at home has collided with the reality of a global mega-event priced at a premium.

“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 nationwide U.S. supporters’ group of around 30,000 fans.

Labas has been a regular presence at U.S. Soccer events over the past four years. This time, even the diehards have been pushed to the margins. The Outlaws have landed in the 300 section, upper deck, in a corner.

“It’s an absolute travesty,” he said.

Still, they are coming. Distance from the pitch won’t mute them.

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

It’s a snapshot of this World Cup in miniature: unprecedented access, if you can afford it; unwavering loyalty from those pushed to the rafters.

Who might own this World Cup?

Beyond the ceremonies, the security and the sticker shock, the football itself is already feeding another industry: betting. With 2026 expected to rank among the biggest gambling events of all time, attention is fixed on who might navigate this sprawling format best.

German economist Joachim Klement, who has correctly forecast the last three World Cup winners, has turned away from the obvious favorites. Speaking to CBS News’ Ramy Inocencio, he picked the Netherlands as his 2026 champion, putting them ahead of heavily backed nations such as France, Spain, England and Brazil.

His reasoning is cold and analytical. The Netherlands, he argues, are one of the game’s great “constant outperformers,” a team that has reached the World Cup final three times — in 1974, 1978 and 2010 — without lifting the trophy. This version, Klement said, may not have a Lionel Messi-style superstar, but it has something else: balance.

“I think they have a team that doesn’t have real stars, like [Lionel] Messi for Argentina, but they are a team that is very, very leveled in the performance of every one of the players in the team. So there’s no real weak spot,” he said.

He also leans on an old truth. “The second thing is they have a really good defense, and in soccer more so than in most other sports, is the saying that offense wins matches, defense wins tournaments.”

For the United States, Klement’s view is split.

On the positive side, the draw in Group D looks manageable. Paraguay, Australia and Turkey are all opponents the USMNT can realistically match, giving the hosts a clear shot at the knockout rounds and even a possible path to the quarterfinals.

The downside lies not in tactics or talent, but in culture.

“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.,” Klement said. “While if you go anywhere in Europe or Latin America, it’s soccer and then there’s the rest.”

That tension — between a nation still negotiating its relationship with the sport and a tournament about to engulf it — hangs over this World Cup.

The stadiums are ready. The tactical teams are in place. The tickets are sold, at a price. Now the question is simple, and enormous: in a tournament this big, on a stage this loud, who will actually seize it?