FIFA announces on June 2 the final lists of the World Cup teams
The International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) has announced on its official website all information related to the lists of teams participating in the 2026 World Cup finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
FIFA said that each team will be allowed to include 26 players in its World Cup squad, and that the 48-team associations participating in the tournament will provide FIFA with an initial list of between 35 and 55 players, including 4 goalkeepers, and this provisional list will be used for internal purposes only and will not be published by FIFA.
The date of the announcement of the 2026 World Cup rosters
FIFA intends to announce the final official lists ofthe 48 teams participating in the World Cup on June 2.
FIFA explained that the final list will include between 23 and 26 players, including three goalkeepers, and that no player in the final list can be replaced, except for a player from the initial list, only in the event of serious injury or severe illness, provided that this is done no later than 24 hours before the first match of his team in the 2026 World Cup.
FIFA also clarified that any of the participating teams can announce its list at any time, but it is not considered official until it is approved on June 2, 2026.
About the Tournament
From the first edition of the World Cup in 1930 in Uruguay until the 1998 edition in France, teams were allowed to register 22 players in the final lists, and in the 2002 editions of South Korea and Japan, the number was increased to 23 players, and this continued until the World Cup in Qatar 2022 when the rosters were expanded to 26 players.
In order to ensure that players join their teams in time before the World Cup, FIFA clarified that the start of the rest and preparation period will be adopted and that players will be allowed to join their teams on May 25, the day after the last official match in which players participate with their clubs, and that the exceptions to allowing players to join their teams include players participating in the finals of continental club championships until May 30, 2026 , subject to FIFA approval.
Date of the 2026 World Cup
It is noteworthy that the upcoming World Cup finals will be held from June 11 to July 19 , 2026, with the participation of 48 teams distributed in 12 groups, with 4 teams in each group.
The list stipulates that the leader and runner-up of each group will qualify for the knockout rounds of the World Cup, in addition to the top eight third-place teams in the12 groups.
Teams participating in the 2026 World Cup
Host countries: Canada, Mexico, United States of America
UEFA Football Association: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic
South American Confederation: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay Oceania Federation
Oceania Consortium: New Zealand
AFC: Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Republic of Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq
Confederation of African Football (CAF ): Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Democratic Republic of the Congo
CONCACAF: Haiti, Panama, Curaçao