World Cup 2026: FIFA turns football into an entertainment festival

1. FIFA wants to turn the 2026 World Cup – co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico – into the world's greatest sporting spectacle.

The draw ceremony divided 12 groups with 48 participating teams, the largest number in history, organized in Hollywood style.

Bocelli World Cup 2026.jpg — Bocelli performs Nessun Dorma. Photo: PA

“Nessun Dorma” , the famous aria from the opera Turandot (composer Giacomo Puccini), performed by Andrea Bocelli, opened the gala which also featured Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger.

Along with that was a surprise appearance by Lauryn Hill – one of the greatest rappers in history. The Village People with the song “YMCA” closed the ceremony.

America may not be great at soccer – the team under Mauricio Pochettino is not a title contender – but they are masters of the entertainment industry.

The goal of FIFA and the organizers of the 2026 World Cup is for football to truly conquer the country with the world's largest advertising market, where tickets and copyright products are consumed the most.

With 104 matches, the most ever, FIFA expects the upcoming World Cup to be extremely lucrative, reaching an audience of up to 2 billion people.

The finals officially opened on June 11, when Mexico met South Africa at Azteca – the stadium that has hosted the most opening matches in World Cup history, and also the place that witnessed Pele (1970) and Diego Maradona (1980) lift the gold cup.

2. Professionally, this is the last World Cup for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Furthermore, those who are considered to be their successors, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland also appeared. Of course, Vinicius, Estevao or Vitinha, and especially Lamine Yamal, cannot be ignored.

Heidi Klum.jpg — Model Heidi Klum. Photo: FIFA

The draw had a few peculiarities: each co-host nation was seeded in Pot 1, giving them an easier draw.

For the first time in history, the top four teams in the FIFA rankings – Spain, Argentina, France and England, in that order – cannot meet until at least the semi-finals. A formula that tennis has long followed.

However, the brackets are quite tricky, as the 12 group winners and runners-up along with the 8 third-place teams with the best records will qualify for the next round.

If Argentina finishes second in the group, they could face Spain in the round of 16.

One of the most interesting moments of the ceremony was a video of Matthew McConaughey – a soccer fan and owner of an MLS club – and actress Salma Hayek cheering on Rio Ferdinand as he took on the role of host alongside MC Samantha Johnson.

Model Heidi Klum and comedian Kevin Hart were the main MCs for the entire gala draw night.

3. The 2026 World Cup will take place in 11 cities in the US, 3 cities in Canada and 2 cities in Mexico.

World Cup 2026.jpg — FIFA aims to turn the 2026 World Cup into an entertainment event. Photo: FIFA

While there are doubts about the US's ability to host due to security controversies and lack of attention to player conditions, no one doubts their ability to create an entertaining feast.

The organizers selected 4 sports legends to open the lottery balls: Tom Brady (NFL - football), Shaquille O'Neal (NBA - basketball), Wayne Gretzky (NHL - hockey) and Aaron Judge (MLB - baseball).

They are icons of the American sports industry. This is exactly what FIFA wants: to turn every soccer match into a true entertainment party.

An estimated 7 million tourists are expected to flock to the United States during the World Cup. FIFA expects record-breaking advertising revenue during the most expensive World Cup in history.

Comment (0)