All matchups for the Round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup, which is being held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, have been determined.
The first match of this round has already taken place: Canada defeated South Africa 1–0 and advanced to the Round of 16, where it will face the winner of the Netherlands–Morocco match.
All Round of 16 matchups for the 2026 World Cup:
June 28
South Africa – Canada – 0–1
June 29
Brazil vs. Japan
Germany vs. Paraguay
Netherlands vs. Morocco
June 30
Ivory Coast vs. Norway
France vs. Sweden
Mexico vs. Ecuador
July 1
England vs. DR Congo
Belgium vs. Senegal
United States vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina
July 2
Spain vs. Austria
Portugal vs. Croatia
Switzerland vs. Algeria
July 3
Australia vs. Egypt
Argentina vs. Cape Verde
Colombia vs. Ghana
Among the most notable matchups of the round are Brazil vs. Japan, the Netherlands vs. Morocco, France vs. Sweden, Portugal vs. Croatia, as well as the match between one of the tournament hosts, the U.S., and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Reigning world champion Argentina will kick off the knockout stage with a match against Cape Verde; Spain will face Austria; England will take on the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and Portugal will face Croatia.
The 2026 World Cup will be held for the first time in an expanded format featuring 48 national teams. A total of 104 matches will be played during the tournament, with the final scheduled for July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The 2026 World Cup kicks off on June 11 and will be held across three countries for the first time—the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The tournament will be the largest in history: instead of 32 teams, 48 national teams will participate.
The format has changed. Teams are divided into 12 groups of four. The top two teams from each group, as well as the eight best third-place finishers, will advance to the knockout stage. This makes the group stage less intense but increases the importance of goal difference and the final score, even in matches against the favorites.
2026 World Cup Groups
Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Czech Republic.
Group B: Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar, Switzerland.
Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland.
Group D: United States, Paraguay, Australia, Turkey.
Group E: Germany, Curaçao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador.
Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Tunisia.
Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand.
Group H: Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay.
Group I: France, Senegal, Iraq, Norway.
Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan.
Group K: Portugal, DR Congo, Uzbekistan, Colombia.
Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama.
The main favorites of the tournament are Argentina, France, Spain, Brazil, and England. Argentina enters the tournament as the reigning world champion, France remains one of the strongest teams in Europe, Spain boasts a strong generation of young players, Brazil is traditionally among the title contenders, and England remains one of the most expensive and balanced national teams in terms of its roster.
Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands, and Uruguay are also worth keeping an eye on. These teams may not always look like the top favorites, but they have enough quality to go far in the knockout stage.
Among the second-tier teams, Morocco, Croatia, Switzerland, Japan, Colombia, and Senegal are worth watching. Morocco has already proven at the 2022 World Cup that it can compete with European powerhouses, Croatia remains a tournament-ready team, and Japan is steadily improving and knows how to play against strong opponents.
From an economic standpoint, the 2026 World Cup will be not only a soccer event but also an infrastructure one. The U.S., Canada, and Mexico will see an influx of tourists, with hotels, airlines, restaurants, fan zones, the advertising market, and city services all experiencing additional demand for a month and a half.
The main intrigue of the tournament is whether the expanded format will maintain the quality of soccer. On the one hand, there will be more matches with clear favorites. On the other hand, smaller national teams will have a better chance of making it onto the world stage, and fans will have more unexpected storylines.
Groups of fans from around the world are arriving in Qatar, where the FIFA World Cup will begin on Sunday, Middle Eastern media reported. Fans gather in the streets of Doha, singing songs, dancing and preparing for the start of the tournament. Fans are traditionally dressed in the colors of their teams, with Dutch fans in bright orange jerseys already strolling around the city, as well as large numbers of Mexican fans in sombreros and Brazilians in yellow shirts and with national flags.
Qatar is expected to host 1.2 million fans during the tournament.
Earlier on Friday, 48 hours before the start of the tournament, the International Football Federation (FIFA) said that after discussions with Qatar’s authorities it had decided not to sell alcoholic beverages in the eight soccer stadiums that will host matches of the 2022 World Cup. However, it is allowed to sell alcoholic beverages at Fan Festival events, other fan venues and licensed venues. Budweiser non-alcoholic beer will remain available at the stadiums.
Budweiser is one of the main sponsors of FIFA, and therefore only beers of this brand can be sold at FIFA World Cups. Western media reports that Budweiser’s sponsorship amounts to $75 million.
Western media note that the company is working on an agreement to turn one of the luxury hotels in downtown Doha into its own theme park, where a bottle of beer will be sold for at least $15.
Meanwhile, sales of Qatar’s popular drink, Karak, a spicy tea with milk and spices, have soared in the country. Its price is less than $0.30.
Initially, Qatar authorities allowed the sale of alcohol near stadiums, but asked to make the points of sale not too noticeable.
The FIFA World Cup will be held from November 20 to December 18 in Qatar. For the first time in history, the tournament will be held in the Middle East.
The first match will be held on Sunday. On the field will be the players of Qatar, which hosts the World Cup, and Ecuador.
In Ukraine, all matches will be available for viewing on Suspilnogo platforms. World Cup matches will be broadcasted on Suspіlne Sport site (live broadcasts, match records and highlights), local Suspіlne TV channels (live and delayed broadcasts) and Radio Luch (radio broadcasts of matches).
Soccer simulator for PlayStation FIFA 23 predicted Argentina’s victory at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Games in the FIFA series have previously successfully predicted the winners of the 2010, 2014 and 2018 championships. This time, the game simulated all 64 matches to be played in Qatar in November and December and concluded that Argentina and Brazil would advance to the final, with Argentina winning 1-0.
The new version of the game used technology HyperMotion2, which provides ultra-realistic gameplay, as well as current FIFA ratings of all national teams in the world. If the prediction of the simulator is correct, Argentina and Brazil will meet in the World Cup finals for the first time in history.
FIFA 23 also predicted that the Golden Boot, the prize for the tournament’s best striker, would go to Argentine captain and French club PSG striker Leo Messi. He will score eight goals in seven matches, including the decisive goal in the championship final.
The situation will be more complicated with the choice of the winner of the Golden Glove, the prize for the best goalkeeper of the tournament. The game predicted Portuguese goalkeeper Rui Patriciu, Brazilian Alyson Becker, Croatian Dominic Livakovic and Argentine Emiliano Martinez would have an equal chance of winning the award. In the end, Martinez will receive the award as the player who has gone the furthest with his national team.
FIFA 23 also predicted some unexpected outcomes, such as the U.S. team out of the group in first place and leaving only in the quarterfinals and semi-final between Brazil and Portugal 0-0, with Brazil winning on penalties (5:4).
The third-place match will pit Portugal against reigning world champion France, who will win 4-2.
The Ukrainian national team has gained a victory over Finland as part of the selection match for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The match ended with the victory of Ukraine with a score of 2:1.
Earlier it was reported that the Ukrainian national team will play in the selection matches with France, Finland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kazakhstan.
