World Cup Watch: The 2026 World Cup starts in 6 days. Here's what you need to know.
ShireHub will be here for every group stage result, every upset, every knockout, all the way to the final whistle on July 19.
June 11. Mexico City. Mexico vs South Africa. The opening whistle of the biggest World Cup in history.
This one is different.
For the first time ever, 48 teams qualify. That's 16 more than any previous tournament. 104 games, 39 days, spread across 16 cities in three countries: the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
The format changed too. Each group's top two advance automatically. The eight best third-place finishers from across all 12 groups join them, feeding into a brand new Round of 32 before the knockout stages even begin.
The 12 Groups at a glance:
🟢 Groups to watch closely:
Group C — Brazil | Morocco | Scotland | Haiti Morocco finished 4th in 2022. Brazil are always Brazil. This group has a result that will surprise everyone.
Group I — France | Senegal | Norway | Iraq France and Senegal in the same group. Mbappé vs the African champions. This ends in a result nobody wanted.
Group K — Portugal | Colombia | Uzbekistan | DR Congo Ronaldo's likely final World Cup. Colombia are genuinely dangerous. One of these two doesn't make the Round of 16.
Group J — Argentina | Algeria | Austria | Jordan The defending champions. Messi, 38 years old, almost certainly playing his last World Cup. Algeria are not here to be a crowd extra.
🔵 Groups the host nations landed in:
Group A: Mexico + South Korea + Czechia + South Africa
Group B: Canada + Switzerland + Bosnia and Herzegovina + Qatar
Group D: USA + Australia + Türkiye + Paraguay
Four things that will define this tournament:
Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan, Uzbekistan all making their World Cup debut — one of them will win a game nobody expected.
Argentina defending. Winning it again would make this the most complete international career in history. Failing in the groups would be one of the great collapses.
The Round of 32 is completely new territory. No one knows how teams will approach it tactically. Safe to say someone calculated wrong.
The Final is in New Jersey, July 19 — MetLife Stadium, 82,500 seats, the biggest city in America as the backdrop.
Key dates:
Group Stage: Jun 11 – Jun 27
Round of 32: Jun 28 – Jul 5
Round of 16: Jul 6 – Jul 9
Quarterfinals: Jul 10 – Jul 12
Semifinals: Jul 15 – Jul 16
Final: Jul 19, MetLife Stadium
Six days until it starts. One trophy at the end.
💬 Who wins it? Drop your pick below — one team, no hedging.
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