zeteo looks at a 2026 World Cup spread across the United States, Mexico and Canada, with 48 teams playing 104 matches across three countries. That scale makes it the first pan-continental World Cup and pushes the tournament into a set of disputes that go well beyond the pitch.
Infantino’s 48-team scale
Fifa president Gianni Infantino described the tournament as "Simply the greatest event that humanity, that mankind, has ever seen". The numbers behind it are easier to pin down than the slogan: 48 teams and 104 matches, with about 75% of those matches taking place in the United States.
For fans and teams, that distribution means the competition is not being staged as one compact event. It is being spread across three host countries, with most games concentrated in one of them, which is already shaping travel, scheduling and venue planning.
Mexico City and Arizona move
The Estadio Azteca in Mexico City will become the first venue to host the start of three different World Cups. The stadium’s place in the tournament gives Mexico a central role in an event otherwise weighted toward the United States.
Fifa confirmed last month that the Iran team had moved its base from Arizona to Mexico. That shift is one of the clearest signs that geopolitical pressure is already reaching team operations before the first whistle.
Trump, Iran and protests
Security concerns in Mexico have grown after major cartel violence this year, while World Cup player statues in Mexico City have been toppled by protesters and teachers have threatened to disrupt matches if higher wages are not met. The event is also playing out against the background of the US and Israel attack on Iran in February, the ceasefire that took effect in early April, and continuing strikes between the US and Iran afterward.
President Trump at one stage warned that it was not "appropriate" for Iran to participate "for their own life and safety", and his special envoy suggested that Iran should be replaced by Italy. The practical question now is less about the tournament’s size than whether the politics around it keep spilling into team travel, security planning and match-day operations.
