2026 Men's World Cup preview: The key storylines as epic tournament set to begin
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The 2026 World Cup is almost here with 48 teams competing across 104 games over 39 days in three countries across North America to be crowned as the World Champions.
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This will be epic, as the biggest World Cup in history is coming to Canada, Mexico and the USA.
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Here we take a look at the key storylines heading into the 2026 World Cup kicking off on Thursday in Mexico City.
Get ready for almost 12 hours of action every day, for two weeks straight during the group stage
There are two games on each of the first two days, with Mexico, Canada and the USA all opening group stage play in their homelands to ease you in. Then comes the chaos. Every single day from June 13 until June 27 there are at least four games per day with those games stretched from around lunchtime or early afternoon Eastern time to beyond midnight on the same day.
Bonus: from Wednesday June 24 until Saturday June 27 there are six games per day as three groups play out their final games each day with two games played at the same time across three different kick off times. This World Cup is unlike any other with the sheer volume of 72 group stage games taking over most of June. It's delightful.
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MAY 31: Christian Pulisic of United States celebrates after scoring his team’s second goal during the international friendly match between United States and Senegal at Bank of America Stadium on May 31, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Omar Vega/USSF/Getty Images)
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Host nations looking good, despite the pressure building
There is obviously a lot of focus and pressure and the trio of hosts. But they're holding up well. So far. Canada have put in two decent displays in recent friendlies and look ready for their first-ever men's World Cup on home soil under Jesse Marsch. Alphonso Davies' fitness is a concern, and losing Marcelo Flores to injury just before the tournament was so cruel. But Canada is ready to make it out of a very manageable Group B with Jonathan David and Cyle Larin leading the line and Tajon Buchanan a threat out wide.
Then there's Mexico, with Javier Aguirre's side struggling mightily in recent years but they are feeling very confident after being handed an extremely winnable Group A and they smashed Serbia 5-1 in their final warm-up friendly. Mexico also have a couple of very talented youngsters (Gilberto Mora and Brian Gutierrez) to call upon and El Tri are in a good spot ahead of group games in Mexico City and Guadalajara where the atmospheres will be electric.
And then there's the USMNT. As our own Nick Mendola wrote, Mauricio Pochettino's side have filled up the hope tanks with good performances in a win against Senegal and a narrow loss to Germany over the last week in friendlies. Their hybrid 3-4-2-1 system allows them to press high in certain areas of the pitch and brings the best out of their talented wing backs and playmakers. The U.S. does need Chris Richards to be fit to provide much-needed defensive balance, but overall it feels like the USMNT will have to try really hard (or be very unlucky) to not finish in the top two in Group D.
TOLUCA, MEXICO - JUNE 4: Raul Jimenez of Mexico celebrates after scoring his team’s third goal during the international friendly match between Mexico and Serbia at Nemesio Diez Stadium on June 4, 2026 in Toluca, Mexico. (Photo by Eduardo Valdez/Jam Media/Getty Images)
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Superstars in mixed form as favorites clearly emerge
There are huge players in vastly different veins of form heading into this tournament and there are some big debates happening in countries around the world regarding certain superstars. Portugal's icon Cristiano Ronaldo, now 41 years of age, is still starting for them but Bruno Fernandes is in the form of his life and should probably be Portugal's talisman with Ronaldo playing a big role off the bench. Let's see what Ronaldo has to say about that... France's captain and legend Kylian Mbappe, still just 27, had a very tough last few months of the domestic season for Real Madrid with injuries and scrutiny regarding his commitment coming to the fore. France, the runners up in 2022, are looking good for another deep run but their defense does look susceptible to counters. As for Mbappe, he is the focal point of a fearsome French attack and will surely come good as he chases becoming the all-time leading goalscorer in World Cup history as he needs five goals in this tournament to do it.
Lionel Messi needs four goals to claim that mantle himself and is looking sharp as he aims to lead Argentina to back-to-back titles. No team has won consecutive World Cups in the men's game since the great Brazilian side (1958 and 1962) dominated football. Messi, who will turn 39 during the tournament, is still so influential in key moments when it matters and Argentina are solid defensively to give him the platform to make the difference. The same could be said for England and Harry Kane. The latter is having the best season of his career, scoring 61 goals in 51 games for Bayern Munich and looking fit and sharp and ready to lead England's charge under Thomas Tuchel. The Three Lions will be pragmatic and will look to feed Kane with plenty of crosses and direct balls towards the box and hope Tuchel's in-game management ends the 60-year wait for a major trophy.
Then there is Lamine Yamal for Spain and Raphinha for Brazil, as the Barcelona duo are absolute wizards out wide and difference makers respectively for the reigning European champions and the most successful team in the history of the World Cup. Yamal is still just 18 but Spain will rely on his star quality and cutting inside to score and create with curlers. Raphinha has emerged as the real leader of this Brazil attack with Vinicius Junior going through a dip in form, but the big issue for Raphinha this season has been staying fit. And then there is Neymar who was surprisingly called up by Carlo Ancelotti as a wild card but he continues to struggle with his fitness. Still, Neymar's quality off the bench for 20 minutes here and there could be invaluable on the big stage with the 34-year-old desperate to have one final say on the world stage.
TAMPA, FL - JUNE 06: England forward Harry Kane (9) celebrates after his goal in the first half during the friendly soccer match between England and New Zealand on Saturday, June 6, 2026 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL (Photo by Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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Hot conditions will play a huge part early on
Certain teams are trying all kinds of things to stay cool during the tournament and it already seems like it will be a struggle for some. England have been training in Florida with special devices to keep the palms of their hands cool to lower their body temperatures, and they will use them during cooling breaks at the tournament too. England's first friendly, a 1-0 win against New Zealand in Tampa, was a very sluggish outing to underline the kind of issues teams not use to playing in the kind of heat and humidity you find in most of North America during the summer.
Players will of course acclimatize to the conditions after a few weeks, and their coaches will get used to how they should set them up due to the conditions, but by then it could be too late. We will likely see a couple of really big teams struggle with the heat early on. There have been other approaches with France staying in their homeland until the last possible moment, while plenty of other nations have decided to base themselves in very testing conditions to get up to speed with the heat. That is all well and good but after a lengthy club season for most players, they could take a lot longer than usual to get going in this tournament and we may see some big upsets in the group stages. Over the last few days Spain drew with Iraq and France lost to Ivory Coast in warm up games if you need a little bit of evidence to back this up.
HARRISON, NEW JERSEY - JUNE 7: Erling Haaland #9 of Norway in action against Morocco during the international friendly match at Sports Illustrated Stadium on June 7, 2026 in Harrison, New Jersey. (Photo by Vincent Carchietta/Getty Images)
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World Cup darkhorses already jostling for deep run
Look, they are only friendlies, but you can't deny that quite a few darkhorse teams are already looking likely to spring a few surprises during this tournament. Scotland have scored eight goals in two big warm-up wins against Curacao and Bolivia and are building momentum with Scott McTominay and John McGinn a real force in midfield. Norway beat Sweden easily and drew with fellow darkhorse Morocco and have a talented, balanced side with Martin Odegaard and Erling Haaland leading the charge.
Ivory Coast beat France and have a very solid team with a couple of promising forwards, while the same could be said for Senegal. And both Portugal and Belgium, even though they are both probably just a level above a traditional darkhorse, are looking really good and have a new generation of talent leading their charge.
The last time the World Cup was held in North America, in the USA in 1994, there were several darkhorses who surprised us all with Sweden and Bulgaria making runs to the semifinals, where they lost narrowly to Brazil and Italy respectively, and the likes of Romania and Nigeria went on fairytale runs. Don't rule out another Cinderella story, or three, this summer.