‘Madness’: 68 games, 15 days as schedule reveals absurd 2026 World Cup reality

On Monday, the host of the 2026 FIFA World Cup final was finally locked in.

And on Monday, the football world truly started to realise how utterly bonkers the 2026 FIFA World Cup is going to be.

New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, home to the NFL’s New York Jets and Giants, will host the tournament’s crown jewel along with seven other matches - though FIFA is calling the venue New York New Jersey, given its proximity to Manhattan and the understandable preference to be associated with the megacity over the home of Tony Soprano.

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Dallas’ AT&T Stadium will get nine matches including a semi-final, Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium will host eight matches including a semi-final, and Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium will host eight matches including a quarter-final and two USA group games. Mexico will host the first two matches of the tournament on June 11, with the host nation playing at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca.

But those are just five of the 16 venues required to host the whopping 104 matches required to narrow down 48 teams, spread across 12 four-team groups in the opening stage, to one world champion.

The scale will be enormous, and to pack it all into just over a month - from the June 11 opener to the July 19 final - will require a veritable feast of football.

The clean bracket of years gone by (32 teams cut into a 16-team knockout stage) is gone. The top two teams in each group, plus the eight best third-placers, will advance with an extra knockout round (beginning with 32 teams) required.

The thrilling early group stage process will continue, with