The 2026 FIFA World Cup is now one year away as of today. Football’s premier international competition will take over large portions of the daily news agenda 365 days from now on 11 June 2026. The tournament will be held across 16 cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico, and defending champions Argentina have already qualified. 

At the forefront of the minds from the opposite side of the Americas is just one question. Will it be one last dance for Lionel Messi?

Who will be playing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup?

The 2026 World Cup will be the first to be played with 48 teams, nearly doubling the number of games in the tournament from 64 to a staggering 104. Teams can qualify directly, via their confederation qualifiers, or through the playoffs. When all direct spots are decided, the last few slots will be allocated in March 2026 with the inter-confederation play-offs mini-tournament.

So far, only 13 teams have sealed their ticket to the tournament. For North, Central America and Caribbean confederation CONCACAF, hosts U.S., Canada and Mexico are confirmed, with a further three direct spots available and two playoffs spots.

Asia football governing body AFC is the confederation with the most teams already confirmed. Japan, Iran, South Korea, and Australia have sealed their qualification, just as they had for Qatar 2022. The debuting Uzbekistan and Jordan will also join them in, with two further spots and a playoff berth still open.

South America football confederation CONMEBOL has Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador as confirmed representatives. Three further spots, and a playoff ticket are still open.

The Oceania football governing body OFC is sending New Zealand to the competition. The All Whites beat New Caledonia in the confederation qualifiers final, sending Les Cagous to the playoffs. As such, it’s the only of the six continental organisations that have no open berths.

No teams have yet secured their place via the qualifiers held by UEFA. The continental body in charge of European football is the only one that holds no spots for the playoffs.

Who and where is Argentina playing?

With so few qualified teams for the tournament, it’s hard to know who the Albiceleste rivals could be for now. The only teams drawn so far are the hosts, with Mexico part of Group A, Canada in Group B and the U.S. in Group D. There is no date yet confirmed for the draw, although “it is expected that it will take place towards the end of 2025,” according to FIFA.

Traditionally, teams have been drawn using pots selected via the latest available FIFA World Rankings, with teams in the first pot used as the seeded entry. Argentina has led the ranking since June 2023. With its win over Chile on June 5, it reached 1886.16 points, the highest tally ever achieved by an Albiceleste team.

As such, it’s easy to predict Lionel Scaloni’s team will be among the seeded teams when the draw comes. With the draw ready, Argentina will know not only its rivals, but where it’ll be playing. 

In June 2024, FIFA released the tournament’s match schedule, assigning venues to each of the group and knockout stage matches. The Estadio Azteca in Mexico City will hold the opening game, with the MetLife Stadium at New Jersey as the venue for the final.

What will be the new format?

Despite the increase in participants 32 to 48, the format will be very similar as the one used in past tournaments, only adding an extra direct elimination phase: the round of 16.

Teams will be divided into 12 groups of four, with FIFA discarding the option of three-team groups to avoid match-fixing claims. Teams from the same confederation — with the exception of UEFA —  are banned from being paired in the same group. There’s also a select group of games that are banned by FIFA from happening due to ongoing territorial or ethnic conflicts.

The top two teams and eight best third-placed teams from each group will advance to the Round of 16, with the tournament proceeding as a regular direct-elimination draw from then on.

Will Messi play in the 2026 World Cup?

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi has kept a low profile when discussing the chances of a 2026 appearance. 

During the 2022 World Cup, the star from Rosario suggested that it would be his last, but has since then softened his position, claiming in a 2023 interview with sports outlet Olé in 2023 that it “because of his age it’ll be difficult to make it” but that he loved football and was going to “keep at it” while he enjoys it.

The 2024 Copa América cast some serious doubts over the possibility, with Messi bursting into tears on the bench after having to be subbed off in the final due to an ankle injury. However, he gave fans some hope in January 2025.

“I’m just starting the year, but I’m hopeful and looking forward to it,” he replied when asked about the 2026 World Cup. “I hope I’ll feel good, that’s the most important thing. Get going with a good pre-season, get the minutes in to arrive in the best possible shape when the official matches come.”

Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni has never hesitated to admit he’ll call up Messi if he’s available. “Until we know, when the time comes, if he’s fit and ready to play, we can’t say much,” he said in March 2025. “When that time comes, we’ll decide.”

As of today, Messi is the player with the most games played at the FIFA World Cup, with 26, beating Germany’s Lothar Matthaus record of 25 at the Qatar 2022 final. An appearance in 2026 would make him the only player in history to make the squad and play a game in six different World Cup tournaments.