The 2026 World Cup will make history for the most teams ever participating with a record breaking 48 teams. Since 1992 the World Cup has had 32 teams involved and that would last until now. Qualifiers were finalized at the end of March.

The tournament officially begins on June 11th and ends on July 19th with the finals of the tournament being played in MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

WJPS 12th grader Ricardo Aviles-Valle said,“I’m excited to see how different the World Cup will be now that there’s 48 teams.”

However, that’s not the only record the World Cup has broken as for the first time ever it will be hosted by three countries including Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

The reigning champion is Argentina, which won the tournament in 2022 defeating France.

WJPS 12th grader Jack Annibale stated, “I’m happy to see that the World Cup is expanding to different countries giving more fans a chance to see the games live.”

The World Cup was established in 1930 with Brazil winning the most titles with five.