The event will also return to its traditional northern summer schedule after the 2022 edition in Qatar was held in November and December.

[7] Opponents of the proposal argued that the number of games played was already at an unacceptable level,[8] that the expansion would dilute the quality of the games,[9][10] and that the decision was driven by political rather than sporting concerns, accusing Infantino of using the promise of bringing more countries to the World Cup to win his election.

[11] Starting with this edition, the FIFA World Cup expanded to 48 teams, an increase of 16 from the previous 7 tournaments.

[23] This prompted FIFA to suggest that penalty shoot-outs may be used to prevent draws in the group stage,[24] although even then some risk of collusion would remain, and a possibility would emerge of teams deliberately losing shootouts to eliminate a rival.

[27][28] In March 2017, FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed that "Europe (UEFA) and Asia (AFC) are excluded from the bidding following the selection of Russia and Qatar in 2018 and 2022 respectively.

[27] In March 2022, Liga MX president Mikel Arriola claimed Mexico's involvement as cohost could have been at risk if the league and the federation had not responded quickly to the Querétaro–Atlas riot between rival fans that left 26 spectators injured and resulted in 14 arrests.

[39] After Montreal dropped out in July 2021 due to lack of provincial funding and support to renovate the Olympic Stadium,[40] Vancouver rejoined the bid as a candidate city in April 2022,[41] bringing the total number to 24 venues, each in its own city or metropolitan area.

[47] Mexico City is the only capital of the three host nations chosen as a venue site, with Ottawa and Washington, D.C., joining Bonn (West Germany, 1974) and Tokyo (Japan, 2002) as the only capital cities not selected to host World Cup matches.

Washington was a host city candidate but, due to the poor state of FedExField, combined its bid with nearby Baltimore's, which was also unsuccessful.

Other cities eliminated from the final hosting list were Cincinnati, Denver, Nashville, Orlando, and Edmonton.

Ottawa's candidate venue, TD Place Stadium, was eliminated early on due to insufficient capacity.

[48] Due to FIFA's rules on stadium sponsorships, most of the venues will use alternative names for the duration of the tournament,[49] given here in parentheses.

[57][58] This includes an intercontinental playoff tournament involving six teams to decide the last two FIFA World Cup spots.

The four-game tournament is to be played in one or more of the host countries, and will also be used as a test event for the FIFA World Cup.

[57] The match schedule, including the venue for the final, was revealed on February 4, 2024, 3:00 p.m. EST, from the Telemundo Center in Miami.

[64] Host cities were geographically grouped to optimize travel for teams and fans, except Canada and its opening-game opponent in Toronto.

[73] The official emblem and brand identity was unveiled on May 17, 2023, at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California; its basic form consists of a stacked "26" with an image of the FIFA World Cup Trophy in front of it (marking the first time that the trophy has been depicted in a World Cup emblem as a photo, as opposed to a stylized representation), but it is designed to be adaptable to different backdrops.

[76][77] Reaction to the logo from the initial unveiling was largely negative, with many feeling that the design was either unfinished or uncreative compared to the emblems of past FIFA World Cup tournaments.

By contrast, United States national team player Jesús Ferreira described the emblem as "beautiful".

[78][75][79] On February 12, 2015, FIFA renewed the U.S. and Canadian broadcasting rights contracts for Fox (U.S. English), NBCUniversal (U.S. Spanish), and Bell Media (Canada) to cover 2026, without accepting any other bids.