How many games will KC get? What to know about FIFA’s 2026 World Cup schedule release
The match schedule for the FIFA 2026 World Cup in North America, including games in Kansas City, will be unveiled on Sunday.
“It’s the next big step,” said Katherine Holland, executive director of KC2026. “It will be critical and helpful for us to move through the planning process.”
Here are five things to know about the announcement:
The broadcast details
The announcement at 2 p.m. Central Time will be televised by FOX (Channel 4 in Kansas City) and Telemundo. It also will be available on FIFA’s digital platforms. The program is scheduled for 30 minutes.
What will be revealed?
We’ll know the match schedule for the 104 games, and where those games will be played among the 16 host cities in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
A reminder of the host cities: Kansas City, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Monterrey and Mexico City in the Central Region; Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Guadalajara, Mexico in the West Region; and Toronto, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Miami in the East Region.
Also, the championship site will be announced, along with other “key matches,” according to FIFA. We’ll also learn the location of the tournament’s opening matches in the three nations, and the group-stage locations for each host country’s national team.
The World Cup final is set for July 19, 2026. The starting date, in early June, will be known Sunday.
What won’t be announced
The teams beyond the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The North American nations are in as host nations. Everyone else has to qualify, and that process will happen over the next two years.
In 2022, when the World Cup was held in Qatar, the final draw was held about six months before the opening match. If that same schedule applies to 2026, the draw likely would happen late in 2025.
Here’s the current FIFA top 10 ranking: 1. Argentina, 2. France, 3. England, 4. Belgium, 5. Brazil, 6. Netherlands, 7. Portugal, 8. Spain, 9. Italy, 10. Croatia. The U.S. is 12th.
What can Kansas City expect?
Kansas City will learn how many games will be played at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, and when. The largest World Cup yet — 48 teams — will be separated into 12 groups of four. The knockout rounds start after pool play, with quarterfinals, semifinals, a third-place game and a championship.
Four games in KC? Six? A quarterfinal? All are possibilities.
“My hope is that we get a quarterfinal match,” Holland said. “That would be incredible. But any and all matches are a reason to celebrate.”
What about base camps?
The qualifying teams (aside from the hosts’) won’t be known, and neither will be the base-camp sites, where teams will train between matches and fans can set up shop.
Kansas City has been called a mecca for base camps, with superb facilities at places like Sporting KC’s Compass Minerals National Performance Center, the Kansas City Current’s facilities and Rock Chalk Park at KU in Lawrence.
At the 2018 men’s World Cup in Russia, FIFA announced base camps for the 32 teams about five months before the games.
