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FIFA World Cup 2026: The biggest wait of football fans has ended today. fifa world cup 2026 It is starting from June 11 under the hosting of America, Canada and Mexico. For the first time in history, 48 teams are participating in this tournament and a total of 104 matches will be played. The first match of the tournament will be played between hosts Mexico and South Africa at the historic Estadio Azteca stadium in Mexico City. According to Indian time, this match will start at 12:30 pm on 12th June.

At the first opening ceremony in Mexico City famous singer shakira And Burna Boy will give a colorful performance. After this, Michael Bublé will headline the opening ceremony in Canada (Toronto) on Friday and Katy Perry will headline the opening ceremony in America (Los Angeles) on Saturday.

10 big things to FIFA World Cup 2026

1- For the first time 48 teams will participate: FIFA World Cup 2026 will be the biggest football tournament ever. Whereas earlier only 32 teams took part, this time teams from 48 countries will contest for the title.

2- The event will be held in three countries: America, Canada and Mexico are hosting this World Cup together. This is the first time that three different countries are jointly organizing the FIFA World Cup.

3- The first match will be held in Mexico City: The first match of the tournament will be played between hosts Mexico and South Africa. This match will take place in the historic Estadio Azteca stadium, which is one of the most famous grounds in FIFA history. Fans in India will be able to watch the match on June 12 at 12:30 pm.

4- New knockout format will be seen: This time there will be no direct round of 16 after the group stage. 32 teams will reach the round of 32 and after that knockout matches will be played.

5- The thrill of football will last for 39 days: A total of 104 matches will be played in the FIFA World Cup 2026. The world’s top football teams will be face to face for about one and a half months.

6- Big increase in prize money: FIFA has announced prize money of about 655 million dollars i.e. about Rs 6241 crore for this tournament. This is much more than the 2022 World Cup.

7- The winning team will get record amount: The team that wins the title will get around 50 million dollars i.e. around Rs 429 crore. The runner-up team will be given around Rs 283 crore.

8- You can watch live matches in India like this: Indian fans will be able to watch the live telecast of FIFA World Cup 2026 on Zee Entertainment’s new sports channels Unite8 Sports 1, Sports 1 HD, Sports 2 and Sports 2 HD. At the same time, live streaming of the tournament will also be available on ZEE5 app and website. For this you will have to take subscription.

9- Dispute regarding ticket and visa: Before the start of the tournament, representatives and fans of some countries have faced issues to visas and tickets, which has also created controversy.

10- In view of the heat, the water bottle rule was changed: Following protests from fans, FIFA has allowed sealed plastic water bottles up to 20 ounces into the stadium. However, hard reusable bottles will still be banned.