2026 World Cup countdown: 100 days of facts, stats and stories

The World Cup is coming back to North America for the first time since 1994, which means the hype machine is officially warming up and there’s no turning it off now.

Over the next few months, Yahoo Sports is counting down with a daily post about the biggest sporting event on the planet: the numbers, the moments, the absurd scale of it all. Some days it’ll be history. Some days it’ll be pure spectacle. Some days it’ll be a reminder that half a billion people tuning in for a random Tuesday match is somehow normal for this sport.

The 2026 version of the World Cup is gearing up to be complicated, messy, political and overwhelming. But once it’s here, it’ll stop the world in a way almost nothing else can.

So this is the build, one day at a time. Let’s go!

This is part of our 2026 World Cup countdown. It’ll be 100 days of stories capturing the reach, history and absurd magnitude of soccer’s biggest stage. Check back daily as we build toward kickoff on June 11.

• 100 days to the World Cup: Half a billion viewers? That's just a Tuesday for soccer

• 99 days to the World Cup: How much does the winning team get paid?

• 98 days to the World Cup: The greatest goalscorers in tournament history

• 97 days to the World Cup: 48 teams, 104 games and a Super Bowl-style halftime show

• 96 days to the World Cup: When the U.S. shocked England

• 95 days to the World Cup: Cristiano Ronaldo wants one last shot on soccer's biggest stage

• 94 days to the World Cup: The biggest crowds in tournament history

• 93 days to the World Cup: The trophy that was stolen and never found

• 92 days to the World Cup: The USMNT is still chasing another deep run

• 91 days to the World Cup: Meet the teams crashing the expanded 48-team party

• 90 days to the World Cup: The global tournament's smallest club — players sent off twice

• 89 days to the World Cup: How the ‘Disgrace of Gijón’ scandal changed the group stage for good

• 88 days to the World Cup: Why it pays to be on your best behavior at the global tournament

• 87 days to the World Cup: When 'Les Bleus' donned borrowed green and white kits

• 86 days to the World Cup: Why going undefeated doesn't guarantee a knockout-round appearance

• 85 days to the World Cup: When soccer's biggest stage belonged to Pelé

• 84 days to the World Cup: Belgium and Mexico keep coming back. The trophy never follows

• 83 days to the World Cup: When Landon Donovan saved the USMNT, and gave the world a call to remember

• 82 days to the World Cup: Switzerland's 0 goals allowed not good enough

• 81 days to the World Cup: Tim Howard's 16 saves vs. Belgium

• 80 days to the World Cup: Winning boils down to where your manager was born

• 79 days to the World Cup: When the U.S. 'won' a 1-1 draw with England in 2010

• 78 days to the World Cup: When Cameroon's Roger Milla proved that age is nothing but a number

• 77 days to the World Cup: Gabriel Batistuta and the magic of June 21

• 76 days to the World Cup: The headbutt that went down in history

• 75 days to the World Cup: When Diana Ross missed a penalty kick at Soldier Field

• 74 days to the World Cup: The countries that made it the furthest in their World Cup debut

• 73 days to the World Cup: Bebeto marks son's birth with iconic goal celebration

• 72 days to the World Cup: Hakan Şükür wastes little time scoring against South Korea

• 71 days to the World Cup: No one has played in more World Cup games than Lionel Messi

• 70 days to the World Cup: Sweden sneaks into 2026 tournament without a qualifying win

• 69 days to the World Cup: The former poker pro who leads Bosnia-Herzegovina

• 68 days to the World Cup: The youngest players to find the back of the net

• 67 days to the World Cup: James Rodríguez and the tournament's only Puskás Award winner

• 66 days to the World Cup: Saeed Al-Owairan gifted Rolls-Royce after scoring to advance Saudi Arabia

• 65 days to the World Cup: Haiti and DR Congo break a 52-year drought

• 64 days to the World Cup: Bosnia and Herzegovina's hero is a 21-year-old from Wisconsin

• 63 days to the World Cup: Dennis Bergkamp's iconic goal sends Argentina packing

• 62 days to the World Cup: When Ray Houghton made Irish eyes smile

• 61 days to the World Cup: The goal that turned Robin van Persie into the 'Flying Dutchman'

• 60 days to the World Cup: Senegal stuns the reigning champions in 2002

• 59 days to the World Cup: The red card that left David Beckham 'broken'

• 58 days to the World Cup: A niche feat in goalkeeping — and Poland has done it twice on the global stage

• 57 days to the World Cup: Jairzinho couldn't stop scoring during Brazil's 1970 title run

• 56 days to the World Cup: The uncalled handball that helped end the USMNT's 2002 run

• 55 days to the World Cup: DR Congo returns to the tournament 52 years after their infamous free kick

• 54 days to the World Cup: The teams that couldn't stop scoring goals

• 53 days to the World Cup: The players who have scored the most with their head

• 52 days to the World Cup: The 'Hand of God' and the brilliance of Diego Maradona

• 51 days to the World Cup: Paul Caligiuri and the 'shot heard 'round the world' that ended a 40-year drought

• 50 days to the World Cup: A case of hives couldn't stop Eric Wynalda's free-kick goal against Switzerland

• 49 days to the World Cup: Siphiwe Tshabalala opens 2010 tournament with stunning goal for hosts South Africa

• 48 days to the World Cup: The player who earned 3 yellow cards before finally being sent off

• 47 days to the World Cup: When Australia overcame Japan (and the referee) with a 3-goal comeback

• 46 days to the World Cup: Will Canada finally win its first World Cup match?

• 45 days to the World Cup: Always the runner-up for the Netherlands

• 44 days to the World Cup: When all of Panama celebrated the team's first World Cup goal

• 43 days to the World Cup: The laser that helped Algeria advance

• 42 days to the World Cup: Scotland hoping fifth time is the charm against Brazil

• 41 days to the World Cup: Norway's dramatic finish vs. Brazil in 1998 kept Morocco from reaching knockout stage

• 40 days to the World Cup: Ivory Coast returns 12 years after heartbreaking loss

• 39 days to the World Cup: El Clásico legends power Spain to 2010 title

• 38 days to the World Cup: José Luis Chilavert, Paraguay goalkeeper and set-piece specialist

• 37 days to the World Cup: Can Mohamed Salah lead Egypt to its first victory?

• 36 days to the World Cup: The bite that defined Luis Suárez's legacy

• 35 days to the World Cup: Ghana's Carlos Queiroz to tie Bora Milutinović by coaching at his fifth tournament

• 34 days to the World Cup: South Korea stuns Portugal to advance

• 33 days to the World Cup: Iraq returns to its second World Cup still chasing a second goal

• 32 days to the World Cup: The defender who came out of retirement to help Cape Verde make history

• 31 days to the World Cup: Nicolas Anelka's mid-tournament dismissal sparks a French player boycott

• 30 days to the World Cup: Argentina, Netherlands set yellow-card record in chaotic quarterfinal