When does the FIFA World Cup 2026 start and end? June 11 (Mexico City open) through July 19 (MetLife final) — 48 teams, 104 matches, 16 venues across Canada, Mexico, and the USA.
Current target date: Sunday, July 19, 2026 (World Cup final). We update this page when FIFA publishes schedule changes.
WC 2026 schedule: Jun 11–Jul 19. 48 teams / 104 matches / 16 venues / three hosts. Groups → R32 → R16 → QF → SF → bronze → final. ≠ single-match sibling pages.
World Cup final
Sunday, July 19, 2026
June 11 to July 19, 2026 — the first 48-team World Cup calendar across three countries
FIFA World Cup 2026 runs from Thursday, June 11 to Sunday, July 19. The schedule opens in Mexico City and ends at MetLife Stadium under the New York New Jersey label — 104 matches, 48 nations, 16 venues shared by Canada, Mexico, and the USA.
This countdown stakes the final day as the calendar’s close. For a single fixture (Atlanta semi, bronze, 3 p.m. ET whistle), use the dedicated sibling pages instead of treating every query as “the final.”
Confirmed: Jun 11–Jul 19 / 48 teams / 104 matches — not a 32-team reboot, not “USA-only hosts”
Confirmed: June 11 opening; July 19 final; Canada–Mexico–USA co-hosts; 48-team / 104-match structure; 16 stadiums. Not confirmed as shortened to a one-month USA-only event, as dropping the Round of 32, or as ending before mid-July. Fake “moved final to Los Angeles” stubs invent a corridor on the master calendar.
Phase map — from Mexico City Matchday 1 to MetLife Match 104
- Jun 11 — tournament opens (Mexico City Stadium among Matchday 1 fixtures).
- Jun 11–27 — group stage across the three host countries.
- Late Jun–early Jul — Round of 32, then Round of 16.
- Jul 9–11 — quarter-finals; Jul 14–15 — semis (Dallas, then Atlanta).
- Jul 18 bronze (Miami) → Jul 19 final (New York New Jersey Stadium).
How to read the 2026 schedule without booking the wrong city
- Full window: June 11 – July 19, 2026.
- Scale: 48 teams, 104 matches, 16 venues, three countries.
- Open stake: Mexico City opener on June 11.
- Close stake: MetLife final on July 19 (Match 104).
- Deep links: use separate pages for kickoff clock, Atlanta SF, bronze, or final venue essays.
The schedule’s real story is span — 39 days from a Mexico City open to a New Jersey final in the first 48-team World Cup
Prior modern World Cups ended after 32 teams and fewer knockout rounds. 2026 inserts a Round of 32 and stretches host logistics across three federations and 16 stadiums before Match 104. Searching only “World Cup final date” misses why June 11 matters: without the Mexico City start, the July 19 close is just an orphan Sunday.
Honest schedule pages keep both bookends, list the phase windows, and point single-match intent to the sibling URLs instead of copy-pasting MetLife paragraphs everywhere.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about this release date.
1When does World Cup 2026 start and end?
Thursday, June 11, 2026 through Sunday, July 19, 2026 — about 39 days. Mexico opens at Mexico City Stadium; the final closes at New York New Jersey Stadium (MetLife). This page’s countdown locks the final Sunday as the schedule’s end stake.
2How many teams and matches?
Forty-eight teams play 104 matches across 16 stadiums in Canada, Mexico, and the United States — the first World Cup at that field size. Twelve groups of four feed a Round of 32 and the rest of the knockout bracket.
3What are the knockout phase windows?
Rough guide: Round of 32 late June into early July; Round of 16 early July; quarter-finals around July 9–11; semi-finals July 14–15 (Dallas then Atlanta); bronze July 18 (Miami); final July 19 (MetLife). Use FIFA’s match centre for city-level kickoffs.
4Is this the same as the final-only countdown?
No. Sibling pages isolate Match 104, kickoff time, Atlanta’s semi, or the bronze. This URL is the whole Jun 11–Jul 19 map — start, middle phases, and end — so scrapers do not collapse every World Cup query into one MetLife paragraph.
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