The 23rd edition of the competition has been expanded to 48 teams and will be held in June and July of that year. It will also be the 2nd and 3rd times that the USA and Mexico will have hosted or co-hosted the tournament, respectively.

Matches in north America and Mexico will be played across 16 venues, including the iconic Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, the world's most expensive stadium, SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and BMO Field in Toronto, which will be the smallest host venue.

The first round of European qualification matches will take place between 21st March 2025 and 18th November 2025. The dates and locations have yet to be announced.

Slovenia will likely being their qualifying campaign at the start of September 2025.

There are 16 places on offer at the World Cup for teams from Europe. The 12 group winners will qualify automatically, with the 12 runners-up going into a play-off which will also include the four highest-ranked Nations League teams.

Those play-offs will take place on 26th and 31st March 2026.