2026 World Cup tournament preview: Everything you need to know

• Host nations: USA, Canada & Mexico

• Number of teams: 48

• Number of groups: 12 (A-L)

• Date of opening match: Thursday, 11 June, 2026 (20:00 BST)

• Date of the final: Sunday, 19 July, 2026 (20:00 BST)

• Reigning champions: Argentina

• World Cup favourites: France & Spain (9/2)

The 2026 World Cup is set to be unlike any tournament football has seen before, with 48 nations heading to the United States, Canada, and Mexico for the biggest edition of the competition in history. More teams means more matches, more knockout football, and even greater potential for shocks across a month packed with elite international action.

For the first time, the tournament will feature 12 groups of four teams, with the top two in each group progressing alongside the eight best third-placed sides. An added round of knockout fixtures before the last 16 also raises the stakes even further, placing a greater emphasis on squad depth, consistency, and momentum as the tournament really gets into its stride.

From the opening group-stage game on June 11th to the final on July 19th, the 2026 World Cup will be delivering the drama that makes it the best sporting occasion in the world - and better yet, you can follow every step in our dedicated content hub!

With so much world-class talent set to be on display at the World Cup, there are a number of teams who will more than fancy their chances at going all the way - but it's a pair with recent success who lead the early outright markets, with France and Spain priced as joint-favourites ahead of the tournament's curtain-raiser.

The sheer ability across both France's and Spain's squads leave little room for argument when it comes to World Cup favourites, but Thomas Tuchel's England side may well have something to say about that - particularly after reaching the quarter-finals in each of the last two tournaments.

Reigning champions Argentina come next in the bookies' odds, with that 2022 triumph proving their worth at the very highest level, with Brazil completing the top five in Ladbrokes' latest outright winner markets. Carlo Ancelotti's invaluable experience is tipped to help the Selecao get past the quarter-finals for the first time since 2014, with the five-time winners looking well placed to challenge for a sixth.

Portugal, Germany, Netherlands, and Norway are the other nations with odds of 25/1 or shorter ahead of the summer, with World Cup success still very much on the cards - even if they will have to displace a few international powerhouses along the way.

As well as the outright winner bets, Ladbrokes offers a huge range of World Cup betting markets for you to have your say on the tournament, from top goalscorer bets and confederation specials to Golden Glove markets and stage of elimination betting.

Ladbrokes' 2026 World Cup betting markets include:

• Outright winner bets

• Winner and top scorer double

• Golden Boot bets

• Golden Glove bets

• Golden Ball / Player of the Tournament bets

• Odds for nations to reach the final

• Stage of elimination bets

• Winning confederation bets

• Odds for nations to score the most goals

You can also utilise in-play betting throughout the World Cup, with every single game offering a wide variety of markets to bring you the most value from your wagers. You can use our detailed World Cup betting guide to ensure you are expertly informed before betting on any of the games!

The World Cup stage is always graced by the world's greatest players, and this summer will be no different, with so many of football's biggest names fighting to win the biggest prize in the world - many of them for the very first time.

From France's Golden Boot favourite Kylian Mbappe - who will have his eyes on Miroslav Klose's all-time record of 16 World Cup goals - and Spain's Golden Ball candidate Lamine Yamal to England's talismanic captain Harry Kane and Argentina icon Lionel Messi, elite-level talent will be everywhere you look in North America, so you won't want to miss a thing.

Below, we've outlined one star player to keep an eye on from every single nation, group by group:

• Group A - Patrick Schick (Czech Republic), Santiago Gimenez (Mexico), Lyle Foster (South Africa), Heung-Min Son (South Korea)

• Group B - Edin Dzeko (Bosnia & Herzegovina), Alphonso Davies (Canada), Almoez Ali (Qatar), Breel Embolo (Switzerland)

• Group C - Vinicius Jr (Brazil), Wilson Isidor (Haiti), Achraf Hakimi (Morocco), John McGinn (Scotland)

• Group D - Nestory Irankunda (Australia), Diego Gomez (Paraguay), Arda Guler (Turkey), Christian Pulisic (USA)

• Group E - Juninho Bacuna (Curacao), Moises Caicedo (Ecuador), Jamal Musiala (Germany), Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast)

• Group F - Keito Nakamura (Japan), Frenkie de Jong (Netherlands), Viktor Gyokeres (Sweden), Elias Achouri (Tunisia)

• Group G - Jeremy Doku (Belgium), Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Mehdi Taremi (Iran), Callum McCowatt (New Zealand)

• Group H - Jovane Cabral (Cape Verde), Salem Al-Dawsari (Saudi Arabia), Lamine Yamal (Spain), Federico Valverde (Uruguay)

• Group I - Kylian Mbappe (France), Ahmed Qasem (Iraq), Erling Haaland (Norway), Iliman Ndiaye (Senegal)

• Group J - Fares Chaibi (Algeria), Nico Paz (Argentina), Carney Chukwuemeka (Austria), Mousa Al Tamari (Jordan)

• Group K - Luis Diaz (Colombia), Noah Sadiki (DR Congo), Bruno Fernandes (Portugal), Abdukodir Khusanov (Uzbekistan)

• Group L - Igor Matanovic (Croatia), Harry Kane (England), Antoine Semenyo (Ghana), Adalberto Carrasquilla (Panama)

The expanded format at the 2026 World Cup means there are more groups than ever, with 48 teams being spread across 12 different groups of four. The top two secure automatic qualification for the round of 32, with the eight best third-placed teams also scraping through - meaning only 16 teams will be eliminated at the end of the group stage.

The usual knockout format is then in place until the end of the tournament on July 19, with the round of 32 being followed by the round of 16, the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, and the final itself, where the world champions will be crowned.

These games have to produce a winner, so extra time and penalties will be used to separate the sides should a game end in a draw - and you can follow every single match with our full fixture schedule.

Ladbrokes has created detailed previews for every group, with live odds and expert predictions, which you can find here - Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D, Group E, Group F, Group G, Group H, Group I, Group J, Group K, Group L.

As with any World Cup, this summer's tournament is full of storylines, with records to be broken, legacies to be defined, and incredible footballing chapters to be closed once and for all.

Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi both enter the tournament with the very realistic possibility of becoming the all-time leading goalscorer in World Cups, while Messi and long-term rival Cristiano Ronaldo both get set to appear at their sixth (and probably final) World Cups - a new record.

Elsewhere, a number of stars appear at their first-ever World Cups, from Erling Haaland and Nico O'Reilly to Arda Guler and Lamine Yamal, while France set their sights on a third consecutive World Cup final.

Thomas Tuchel's England look to end their 60-year trophy drought on the world's biggest stage, and in the other home nation's camp, Craig Gordon will become the second-oldest player to ever feature at a World Cup if he plays for Scotland this summer.

Check out the latest betting promotions from Ladbrokes to enhance your betting experience.

All odds and market details are accurate as of the time of publication.

View the latest World Cup 2026 odds.