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Five weeks to FIFA World Cup: Teams, groups, format and full match schedule

Al Jazeera · · 2140 words · By Hafsa Adil
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/5/7/whats-the-full-match-schedule-groups-a…

fact_checkFact-Check Results

34 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

schedule Pending 24
check_circle Corroborated 4
verified Verified By Reference 3
info Single Source 3
verified
“The 23rd edition of the FIFA World Cup — the biggest ever — will see 48 nations compete for the prize in a 39-day tournament in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and official FIFA sources confirm the 2026 World Cup is the 23rd edition, features 48 teams, is hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the US, and runs from June 11 to July 19 (39 days).
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 FIFA World Cup, also marketed as FIFA World Cup 26, will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men's soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member asso…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification decided the 45 teams that joined hosts Canada, Mexico, and the United States at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Qualification began on 7 September 2023 with three matche…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_qualificat…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 FIFA World Cup is an international soccer tournament which will be held in Canada, Mexico, and United States, from June 11 to July 19, 2026. The 48 national teams involved in the tournament w…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_squads
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“Sixteen venues across the three nations will host 104 matches as the tournament returns to North America after 32 years.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
FIFA and Wikipedia confirm there are 16 venues and 104 matches. The tournament returns to North America for the first time since 1994 (32 years).
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 FIFA World Cup, also marketed as FIFA World Cup 26, will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men's soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member asso…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 FIFA World Cup final will be the final match of the 2026 World Cup, the 23rd edition of FIFA's competition for men's national soccer teams. The match is scheduled to be played at MetLife Stad…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_final
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification decided the 45 teams that joined hosts Canada, Mexico, and the United States at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Qualification began on 7 September 2023 with three matche…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_qualificat…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Turkiye and Sweden book World Cup 2026 spots as Kosovo and Poland bow out”
CORROBORATED
Multiple reports from Al Jazeera confirm Turkiye and Sweden secured spots while Kosovo and Poland were eliminated.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 FIFA World Cup, also marketed as FIFA World Cup 26, will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men's soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member asso…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification decided the 45 teams that joined hosts Canada, Mexico, and the United States at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Qualification began on 7 September 2023 with three matche…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_qualificat…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The UEFA second round of the qualification tournament for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, also known as the UEFA play-offs or European play-offs, was contested by sixteen teams from the UEFA segment of quali…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_qualificat…
+ 2 more evidence sources
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“Iraq ends 40-year wait for World Cup with 2-1 win over Bolivia”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web sources and Al Jazeera confirm Iraq defeated Bolivia 2-1 to qualify for the first time in 40 years.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification decided the 45 teams that joined hosts Canada, Mexico, and the United States at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Qualification began on 7 September 2023 with three matche…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_qualificat…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Asian section of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification acted as qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup for national teams of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). AFC teams were allocated eight …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_qualificat…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The inter-confederation play-offs of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification tournament (officially named the FIFA World Cup 2026 Play-Off Tournament) determined two qualification spots for the 2026 FIF…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_qualificat…
+ 4 more evidence sources
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“DR Congo beat Jamaica to reach World Cup via intercontinental finals”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web sources and Wikipedia (Group K entry) confirm DR Congo defeated Jamaica 1-0 in the intercontinental playoff to qualify.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 FIFA World Cup, also marketed as FIFA World Cup 26, will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men's soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member asso…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Group K of the 2026 FIFA World Cup will take place from June 17 to 27, 2026. The group consists of Portugal, DR Congo, Uzbekistan, and Colombia. The top two teams, possibly along with the third-placed…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_Group_K
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification decided the 45 teams that joined hosts Canada, Mexico, and the United States at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Qualification began on 7 September 2023 with three matche…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_qualificat…
+ 3 more evidence sources
check_circle
“Police investigate Islamophobic chants during Spain’s match with Egypt”
CORROBORATED
Three independent news sources (Deutsche Welle, Al Jazeera, and Mossos d'Esquadra via X) confirm the investigation into Islamophobic chants during the Spain-Egypt match.
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Catalonia's Mossos d'Esquadra regional police force later wrote on X: 'We are investigating yesterday's Islamophobic and xenophobic chants at RCDE Stadium during the Spain-Egypt friendly match.'
https://www.dw.com/en/spain-anti-muslim-chants-mar-egypt-soc…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Catalan police investigated 'Islamophobic and xenophobic' chants at the match
https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/4/2/yamal-slams-anti-m…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Spanish police launched an investigation into 'Islamophobic and xenophobic' chants during the match
https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/4/2/yamal-slams-anti-m…
info
“Argentina will look to defend the trophy they lifted under their iconic captain, Lionel Messi, at Qatar 2022”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of irrelevant links about Argentina in general and does not mention the 2022 World Cup or Lionel Messi.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Links documentados a páginas Web que tratan con Argentina. Links documentados a páginas Web relacionadas con Argentina en Guije, sitios hermanos y sitios amigos.
http://www.guije.com/direct/a/argentina/index.htm
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Estas son las películas argentinas que tenemos en la sección de Cine en Cuba. No son todas las películas argentinas, ni siquiera todas las que se estrenaron en Cuba; sólo aquellas en que tenemos algun…
https://guije.com/cine/argentinas/index.htm
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Para aquellos interesados en tener información actualizada, o tal vez visitar Argentina, tenemos una sección dedicada a enlaces a páginas Web de Argentina, o relacionadas con Argentina.
http://www.guije.com/post/mundo/argentina/index.htm
info
“Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan will make their debut at the finals.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence is completely irrelevant, discussing Cape Town, Minecraft capes, and a state park in Washington, rather than the national teams of Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan, or Uzbekistan.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Browse and view custom capes which have been created and are used by SkinMC members.
https://skinmc.net/capes/custom
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Oct 20, 2025 · Cape Disappointment is a 2,023-acre camping park on the Long Beach Peninsula, fronted by the Pacific Ocean and looking into the mouth of the Columbia River. Gape at the breathtaking vie…
https://parks.wa.gov/find-parks/state-parks/cape-disappointm…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Cape Town is the country's second-largest city by population, after Johannesburg, and the largest city in the Western Cape. [15] The city is part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. Th…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Town
info
“The tournament will begin in Mexico and conclude in the US.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence only contains general calendar information for the year 2026 and does not specify the opening or closing locations of the tournament.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — 2026 (MMXXVI) is the current year, and is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2026th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 26th year of the 3…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — United States 2026 – Calendar with American holidays. Yearly calendar showing months for the year 2026. Calendars – online and print friendly – for any year and month
https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/?year=2026&country=1
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — 21 hours ago · 2026 Calendar. User-friendly calendar of 2026, the dates are listed by month including week numbers. View the online 2026 calendar.
https://www.calendar-365.com/2026-calendar.html
verified
“Group A: Mexico, South Africa, Korea Republic, Czechia”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and other web sources explicitly list Group A as consisting of Mexico, South Africa, Korea Republic, and Czechia.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Group A of the 2026 FIFA World Cup will take place from June 11 to 24, 2026. The group consists of Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, and Czechia. The top two teams, possibly along with the third-plac…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_Group_A
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Mexico is in Group A at the 2026 World Cup, alongside South Africa, Korea Republic, and Czechia. As a host nation, Mexico opens the tournament in Mexico City and also plays group-stage matches in Guad…
https://www.roadtrips.com/world-cup/2026-world-cup-packages/…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — World Cup 2026 will be the biggest and most exciting edition of the tournament to date as 48 teams from around the globe compete in 104 fixtures. Graphic showing all 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 matches an…
https://www.fifa.com/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/canadamexi…
schedule
“Group B: Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar, Switzerland”
PENDING
schedule
“Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland”
PENDING
schedule
“Group D: United States, Paraguay, Australia, Turkiye”
PENDING
schedule
“Group E: Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador”
PENDING
schedule
“Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Tunisia”
PENDING
schedule
“Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand”
PENDING
schedule
“Group H: Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay”
PENDING
schedule
“Group I: France, Senegal, Iraq, Norway”
PENDING
schedule
“Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan”
PENDING
schedule
“Group K: Portugal, DR Congo, Uzbekistan, Colombia”
PENDING
schedule
“Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama”
PENDING
schedule
“The tournament will open on June 11 at 3pm (21:00 GMT) at the Mexico City Stadium in Mexico.”
PENDING
schedule
“The MetLife Stadium, which will be called the New York New Jersey Stadium during the tournament, will host the final on July 19 at 3pm (20:00 GMT).”
PENDING
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“the governing body has changed stadium names for all venues to match the host city.”
PENDING
schedule
“the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey has been rebranded as the New York New Jersey Stadium, and the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles has been renamed the Los Angeles Stadium for the tournament.”
PENDING
schedule
“The tournament will consist of one group-stage round and four knockout rounds before the final.”
PENDING
schedule
“the knockouts will begin with the round of 32, followed by the round of 16, the four quarterfinals and two semifinals.”
PENDING
schedule
“Group stage: June 11 June 27”
PENDING
schedule
“Round of 32: June 28 to July 3”
PENDING
schedule
“Round of 16: July 4-7”
PENDING
schedule
“Quarterfinals: July 9-11”
PENDING
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“Semifinals: July 14-15”
PENDING
schedule
“Bronze medal match: July 18”
PENDING
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“Final: July 19”
PENDING
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.