The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the largest held to date with 48 competing teams

Question

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the largest in history in several important ways, starting with the number of teams participating. For the first time, 48 national teams will compete in the final tournament, an increase from 32 in previous editions. This expansion shows FIFA’s goal to make the tournament more inclusive worldwide. It will allow more countries from different confederations to qualify and be represented on soccer’s biggest stage. With more teams, there will also be more matches. Opposed to previous years holding 64 matches, the 2026 cup will hold 104 matches.

In addition to the size in teams and matches, 2026 will be the most geographically spread World Cup ever. The tournament will be co-hosted by three countries, the USA, Canada, and Mexico across 16 host cities. Eleven cities in the United States, three in Mexico, and two in Canada.

Answer 1

The claim that the 2026 world cup will have 48 teams is true. The host of the event itself, FIFA stated that 48 teams will be competing next year, which is 16 more teams than previous world cups. This will lead to more matches being played, and more venues being needed. The event will be hosted in multiple cities across Canada, the United States, and Mexico. 104 total matches will be played now that there are more teams in the tournament, compared to the past where only 64 matches would be played. All of this information is coming from the event organizers website, FIFA, so it is accurate and coming straight from the source. So in conclusion, the statement that 48 teams will be playing is true.
 

https://www.fifa.com/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/canadamexicousa2026/articles/fifa-world-cup-2026-hosts-cities-dates-usa-mexico-canada

Answer 2

This claim about the 2026 FIFA World Cup is true. The tournament will feature 48 national teams, up from 32 in previous years, making it the largest World Cup by number of participants. The number of matches will increase to 104, compared with 64 matches in the 32‑team format. Additionally, the 2026 World Cup will be co‑hosted by three countries, USA, Mexico, and Canada across 16 cities (11 in the United States, 3 in Mexico, 2 in Canada), making it the most geographically spread tournament in history.

Sources:

https://inside.fifa.com/organisation/fifa-council/media-releases/fifa-council-unanimously-decides-on-expansion-of-the-fifa-world-cuptm--2863100

https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2023/3/14/fifa-confirms-expanded-2026-world-cup-with-record-104-matches?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Answer 3

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will indeed be the largest in history in terms of participating teams: a record 48 national teams will compete, up from 32 in past tournaments. This expanded field is part of FIFA’s new format designed to include more countries worldwide. Because of this expansion, the total number of matches will increase substantially — the tournament will feature 104 games, compared with 64 in previous editions. Additionally, the event will be the most geographically spread in the competition’s history. For the first time, the World Cup is being co-hosted by three countries: the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with matches played across 16 host cities — 11 in the U.S., 3 in Mexico, and 2 in Canada. 

Source: https://www.fifa.com/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/canadamexicousa2026

Answer 4

After researching, I've found this claim to be true. According to the FIFA website, this world cup will be the biggest and largest held to date with 48 total teams competing. With more teams competing in this cup, more games will be played and streamed. In 2022, FIFA sold nearly 2.5 million tickets during presale. This year, ESPN's study showed that already 4.5 presale tickets have been sold. With approximately 2 million additional tickets being sold already, the event will be the largest its ever been.

Answer 5

This claim is true. There's not much to it other then the fact that it is a fact that this will be the first time a world cup has 48 teams competing. 48 being the largest ever. You can find this in the first sentence of the source cited. This was not a hard claim to really break down as there is no controversy to it. It's just the truth.