FIFA announced Tuesday it is expanding the 2026 World Cup by adding another 24 matches. With Vancouver among the 16 North American cities hosting, B.C.
Place could potentially host more matches — a prospect the venue's manager describes as "very exciting." The governing body of soccer increased the size of the 2026 tournament for the second time — six years after the first — by approving a bigger group stage for the inaugural 48-team event.
The new World Cup format will have 12 groups of four teams instead of 16 groups of three, the plan chosen in 2017. By retaining groups of four rather than moving to three, FIFA has created a 104-game schedule, an increase from the 80 under the original 2026 format, that will last nearly six weeks from June to July in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
The tournament is being hosted in 16 different cities: 11 in the U.S., three in Mexico and two in Canada. Ahead of the expansion, Canada was allotted 10 matches.