How to Watch the 2026 World Cup | WIRED

Overview

The FIFA Men’s World Cup is almost here, and this one will be the biggest ever. The tournament is hosted by three countries: Mexico, Canada, and the US. The games will be played in stadiums across all three.

This World Cup is huge, competition-wise, as it is the first to include 48 teams in the tournament instead of 32 in past World Cups. That means a whole bunch more games are being played over the course of a month. 104 games, to be exact. That’s a lot of football. Here’s how to watch them all.

Details

If you have satellite TV or cable service, you can watch all the kicking live on TV via Fox Sports in the US. It will also be available on the Fox One streaming service for $20 per month.

Here’s WIRED’s complete guide to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

FIFA has partnered with You Tube as its “preferred partner” for streaming the games. You’ll need You Tube TV’s sports plan, which is currently

Some of the games will be streamed for free on the FIFA+ streaming service. In partnership with Telemundo, Peacock will stream all of the games in Spanish. You can find all the official broadcasters on the FIFA website.

The games begin on June 11 at 3 pm Eastern with Mexico playing South Africa in Mexico City. Quarterfinal matches begin on July 9. The World Cup ends with the final match on July 19 at 3 pm Eastern at the Met Life Stadium in the New York/New Jersey area.

There will be three opening ceremonies, one for each country. The opening ceremony for Mexico is at the Estadio Azteca stadium in Mexico City on June 11 at 1:30 pm ET.

The opening ceremony for the US is June 12 at 7:30 pm ET at So Fi Stadium in California.

In Toronto, Canada, the opening ceremony will be held at BMO Field on June 12 at 1:30 pm ET.

The US team’s scheduled games start on June 12 at 9 pm ET, versus Paraguay in Los Angeles. The US team plays Australia in Seattle on June 19 at 3 pm ET. The last set game is against Turkey in Los Angeles on June 25 at 10 pm ET.

Given the vastly increased number of teams in this World Cup, the structure for how the competition will play out has changed. Countries are sorted into groups (labeled with letters A-L) and will play out games in the First Stage within those groups.

Winners of those matches go on to duke it out in the stage called the Round of 32, then get whittled down in a Round of 16. After that, winners move on to the quarterfinals, semifinals, and then the final game on July 19. The games in the First Stage are the only ones with set matches. After that, games in the Round of 32 and beyond will be determined by the results of prior games.

You can find the full schedule, which defaults to your local time zone, on the FIFA website.

We’ve listed the first games below; we’ll add the rest of the schedule once the World Cup kicks off tomorrow.

Matches in this section are listed by time aired, not official match number.

3 pm ET: Mexico vs. South Africa, in Mexico City (Group A)

10 pm ET: South Korea vs. Czechia, in Guadalajara (Group A)

3 pm ET—Canada vs Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Toronto (Group B)

3 pm ET—Qatar vs. Switzerland, in San Francisco (Group B)

6 pm ET—Brazil vs. Morocco, in New York/New Jersey Stadium (Group C)

12 am ET—Australia vs. Türkiye, in Vancouver (Group D)

7 pm ET—Côte d'Ivoire vs. Ecuador, in Philadelphia (Group E)

10 pm ET—Sweden vs. Tunisia, in Monterrey (Group F)

12 pm ET—Spain vs. Cabo Verde, in Atlanta (Group H)

6 pm ET—Saudi Arabia vs. Uruguay, in Miami (Group H)

9 pm ET—Iran vs. New Zealand, in Los Angeles (Group G)

3 pm ET—France vs. Senegal, in New York/New Jersey (Group I)

9 pm ET—Argentina vs. Algeria, in Kansas City (Group J)

12 am ET—Austria vs. Jordan, in San Francisco (Group J)

10 pm ET—Uzbekistan vs. Colombia, in Mexico City (Group K)

12 pm ET—Czechia vs. South Africa, in Atlanta (Group A)

3 pm ET—Switzerland vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Los Angeles (Group B)

9 pm ET—Mexico vs. South Korea, in Guadalajara (Group A)

8:30 pm ET—Brazil vs. Haiti, in Philadelphia (Group C)

11 pm ET—Türkiye vs. Paraguay, in San Francisco (Group D)

1 pm ET—Netherlands vs. Sweden, in Houston (Group F)

4 pm ET—Germany vs. Côte d'Ivoire, in Toronto (Group E)

8 pm ET—Ecuador vs. Curacao, in Kansas City (Group E)

12 pm ET—Spain vs. Saudi Arabia, in Atlanta (Group H)

9 pm ET—New Zealand vs. Egypt, in Vancouver (Group G)

8 pm ET—Norway vs. Senegal, in New York/New Jersey Stadium (Group I)

11 pm ET—Jordan vs. Algeria, in San Francisco (Group J)

1 pm ET—Portugal vs. Uzbekistan, in Houston (Group K)

10 pm ET—Colombia vs. Congo, in Guadalajara (Group K)

3 pm ET—Switzerland vs. Canada, in Vancouver (Group B)

3 pm ET—Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Qatar, in Seattle (Group B)

9 pm ET—Czechia vs. Mexico, in Mexico City (Group A)

9 pm ET—South Africa vs. South Korea, in Monterrey (Group A)

4 pm ET—Curacao vs. Côte d'Ivoire, in Philadelphia (Group E)

4 pm ET—Ecuador vs. Germany, in New York/New Jersey (Group E)

7 pm ET—Tunisia vs. Netherlands, in Kansas City (Group F)

10 pm ET—Paraguay vs. Australia, in San Francisco (Group D)

8 pm ET—Cabo Verde vs. Saudi Arabia, in Houston (Group H)

8 pm ET—Uruguay vs. Spain, in Guadalajara (Group H)

11 pm ET—New Zealand vs. Belgium, in Vancouver (Group G)

5 pm ET—Panama vs. England, in New York/New Jersey (Group L)

5 pm ET—Croatia vs. Ghana, in Philadelphia (Group L)

7:30 pm ET—Colombia vs. Portugal, in Miami (Group K)

7:30 pm ET—Congo vs. Uzbekistan, in Atlanta (Group K)

10 pm ET—Algeria vs. Austria, in Kansas City (Group J)

Matches are ordered chronologically by official match number, not by time played. How the teams are arranged in the next round of matches depends on who wins specific matches in the Round of 32.

3 pm ET—Group A runners-up vs. Group B runners-up, in Los Angeles

4:30 pm ET—Group E winners vs. either Group A/B/C/D/F third place, in Boston

9 pm ET—Group F winners vs. Group C runner-up, in Monterrey

1 pm ET—Group C winners vs. Group F runners-up, in Houston

5 pm ET—Group I winners vs. either Group C/D/F/G/H third place, in New York/New Jersey Stadium

1 pm ET—Group E runners-up vs. Group I runner-up, in Dallas

9 pm ET—Group A winners vs. either Group C/E/F/H/I third place, in Mexico City

12 pm ET—Group L winners vs. either Group E/H/I/J/K third place, in Atlanta

8 pm ET—Group D winners vs. either Group B/E/F/I/J third place, in San Francisco

4 pm ET—Group G winners vs. either Group A/E/H/I/J third place, in Seattle

7 pm ET—Group K runners-up vs. Group L runners-up, in Toronto

3 pm ET—Group H winners vs. Group J runners-up, in Los Angeles

11 pm ET—Group B winners vs. either Group E/F/G/I/J third place, in Vancouver

6 pm ET—Group J winners vs. Group H runners-up, in Miami

9 pm ET—Group K winner vs. either Group D/E/I/J/L third place, in Kansas City

2 pm ET—Group D runners-up vs. Group G runners-up, in Dallas

Matches are ordered chronologically by official match number, not by time played. The teams that go on to play each other in the finals depend on who wins these Round of 16 matches.

5 pm ET—Match 74 winner vs. Match 77 winner, in Philadelphia

1 pm ET—Match 73 winner vs. Match 75 winner, in Houston

4 pm ET—Match 76 winner vs. Match 78 winner, in New York/New Jersey Stadium

8 pm ET—Match 79 winner vs. Match 80 winner, in Mexico City

5 pm ET—Match 83 winner vs. Match 84 winner, in Dallas

8 pm ET—Match 81 winner vs. Match 82 winner, in Seattle

12 pm ET—Match 86 winner vs. Match 88 winner, in Atlanta

4 pm ET—Match 85 winner vs. Match 87 winner, in Vancouver

4 pm ET—Match 89 winner vs Match 90 winner, in Boston

3 pm ET—Match 93 winner vs Match 94 winner, in Los Angeles

5 pm ET—Match 91 winner vs Match 92 winner, in Miami

9 pm ET—Match 95 winner vs Match 96 winner, in Kansas City

3 pm ET—Match 97 winner vs Match 98 winner, in Dallas

3 pm ET—Match 99 winner vs Match 100 winner, in Atlanta

5 pm ET—Match 101 runner-up vs Match 102 runner-up, in Miami

3 pm ET—Winner of Match 101 vs Winner of Match 102, in New York/New Jersey Stadium

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Key Takeaways

• The FIFA Men’s World Cup is almost here, and this one will be the biggest ever
• This World Cup is huge, competition-wise, as it is the first to include 48 teams in the tournament instead of 32 in past World Cups
• If you have satellite TV or cable service, you can watch all the kicking live on TV via Fox Sports in the US
• Here’s WIRED’s complete guide to the 2026 FIFA World Cup
• FIFA has partnered with You Tube as its “preferred partner” for streaming the games