The Trillion-Dollar Handshake
On a June afternoon in Moscow, in the glass-and-steel headquarters of FIFA's 68th Congress, the delegates from 211 member associations opened their electronic ballots and voted for something that had never been attempted before: a World Cup split across three countries, two time zones, and 16 cities spread across a landmass the size of Europe . The United bid — a joint proposal from the United States, Canada, and Mexico — defeated Morocco's challenge with 134 votes to 65 . What they approved was not merely a host selection but a fundamental reimagining of football's flagship event. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will involve 48 teams, the most in the history of the tournament . It will run for two months, starting on 11 November, and stage 104 matches — forty more than the 2022 edition in Qatar. It will be, by every measure, the biggest and longest World Cup ever held .