Canada US Mexico brace for World Cup extravaganza

LOS ANGELES – The largest and most complex World Cup in history kicks off in just over a year’s time, with the United States, Canada and Mexico co-hosting the football extravaganza against a backdrop of political tension triggered by Donald Trump.

Forty-eight teams and millions of fans are set to descend on North America for the first-ever World Cup shared by three nations, with the tournament getting under way on June 11, 2026.

In theory, the 23rd edition of the most popular sporting spectacle on the planet has all the makings of a successful tournament.

An array of venues ranging from Mexico’s iconic Estadio Azteca to the glittering US$5 billion SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles will play host to 104 games spread over nearly six weeks.

The United States will host the bulk of those fixtures – 78 – with Canada and Mexico staging 13 each.

All games from the quarter-finals onwards will be held in the US, with the tournament culminating in the final at New Jersey’s 82,500-seater MetLife Stadium on July 19.

American officials believe the return of the World Cup to the country – 32 years after the US hosted the 1994 Finals – could represent a watershed moment for football in the country.

“The World Cup is going to raise the attention of the sport in ways that nobody ever dreamt of,” said Don Garber, the commissioner of Major League Soccer.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino has been hyping the Finals as the equivalent of “104 Super Bowls”, contrasting the World Cup’s estimated six billion viewers to the 120 million who tune in for the climax of the NFL season.

There are historical precedents which suggest the hype might be justified. The 1994 World Cup in the United States remains the best attended World Cup in history,