The 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup teams are announced; LA gets ready to host

Day zero of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup started Friday with the drawing of the matchup teams. This is the first time since 1998 that the historic tournament increases from 32 to 48 teams and the first time it will be hosted by three countries; USA, Mexico and Canada.

Mexico, who is in Group A, will open the 2026 World Cup on June 11, 2026 against South Africa at the iconic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. On June 12, the U.S., which is in Group D, will play against Paraguay at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. 

Canada, in Group B, will also play its opening match on June 12 at the BMO Toronto Stadium against the winner of the UEFA, or the European Cup Playoff A winner. The teams fighting for the spot are Italy, Wales, Bosnia and Northern Ireland.

Group A also includes South Korea and UEFA Playoff D winner, which could be  Denmark, Ireland, Czech Republic or North Macedonia. Aside from playing against South Africa on June 11, Mexico will play against South Korea in Estadio Akron in Zapopan, Jalisco. Then on the 24th, Mexico will go back to Estadio Azteca to play against the UEFA Playoff D winner.

Javier Aguirre, El Tri’s head coach, said he was happy to learn about the teams Mexico is playing against so he can begin to start analyzing the teams and their games. 

“There is still the uncertainty of the fourth rival,” he told Formula Deportes. “But we are on a good path.” The objective is to be the leader of the group. 

He said history repeats in a small way, as in 2010 Mexico played against South Africa when South Africa was hosting and now they face again, but Mexico is hosting. 

Among the other Latino countries in the competition are Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina. 

L.A. gets ready to host 

Southern California is excitedly preparing for the historic event as the City of Angels will host eight of the 104 matches All of them at the SoFi Stadium. Five of them are group stage matches. 

The U.S. is part of Group D, which includes Australia, Paraguay and the UEFA Playoff C winner. Two of the Group D matches will be played at SoFi on June 12 and June 25. 

The other two are from Group G–Belgium, Egypt, Iran and New Zealand–on June 15 and June 21, and one from Group B–Canada, Qatar and Switzerland–on June 18. 

SoFi will also host two rounds of 32 knockout matches and one quarter final match during the world’s largest single-sport event.

Politics involved in sports

The final draw for the FIFA World Cup 2026 took place in front of a live studio audience of nearly 2,000 international guests at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. on Friday morning. 

The President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum, Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump were present as the FIFA World Cup hosts. 

Before the draw started, Trump caused controversy for a few remarks. First, he was presented with the first-ever FIFA Peace Prize and medal. However, the process of selection has more questions than answers because there weren’t any nominees announced and there was not a transparent selection process. 

Some media reports indicate that FIFA President Gianni Infantino created the award and selected the recipient.

The FIFA Peace Prize was announced a few weeks after Trump didn’t get awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October.  A day before, Infantino wrote on his social media, “President Donald J. Trump definitely deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his decisive actions.”

And a puzzling comment by Trump was when he said soccer should be called football and suggested the NFL should come with a new name for their sport. 

“When you think about it, this is football, there is no question. We have to come up with another name for the other one. It really does not make sense when you think about it,” he said. 

The announcement on Saturday Dec. 6 is considered Day 1 when the FIFA will unveil the updated match schedule, which includes the specific stadiums and kick-off times for all 104 matches.