World Cup 2026: Your questions answered
6/10/202627 min
The Fifa World Cup kicks off this week. Beginning Thursday, football - or soccer - matches, depending on your preference, will be played in the US, Mexico, and Canada, with a record 48 nations competing for the trophy.
However, the tournament has been beset by controversies over ticket prices, travel bans that affect fans and officials, and security concerns.
We answer questions from the audience about what to expect from this year’s World Cup, with BBC Sports football issues correspondent, Dale Johnson.
Producer: Cat Farnsworth and Xandra Ellin Executive producer: Bridget Harney Sound engineer: Travis Evans Senior news editor: China Collins
(Photo: A Fifa soccer ball in a locker room at Kansas City Stadium ahead of the 2026 Fifa World Cup. Credit: Denny Medley/Reuters)
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsTristan Redman· Host0:00
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Kai Wright0:03
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Speaker 20:06
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Speaker 20:25
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Tristan Redman· Host0:27
[instrumental music] One and a half billion people watched the last World Cup final in 2022. Around five billion watched the tournament as a whole. As the saying goes, everything is bigger in America, but the World Cup is one of the few things that dwarfs even the United States.
Speaker 20:53
[instrumental music] This week, the tournament comes to the US, Mexico and Canada, and perhaps appropriately, it's a super-sized World Cup. 48 nations are competing, more than usual.
Tristan Redman· Host1:05
Today on The Global Story, we're taking questions from you, our listeners, on everything from allegations over FIFA, to host country readiness, to predictions for who could win it all. From the BBC, I'm Tristan Redmond in London.
Speaker 21:24
And I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, DC. And today on The Global Story, the World Cup