Your essential guide to the 2026 World Cup in Los Angeles

Los Angeles will host eight FIFA World Cup matches in summer 2026, which is just around the corner, so LAist has partnered with our public radio partners in Kansas (where matches also will be played) to catch you up on what you need to know ahead of time.

First, L.A. is just one of 16 cities hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which for the first time will be staged across three different countries: Canada, Mexico and the U.S.

The tournament will start in Mexico City, but L.A. will be the first U.S. city to host a match. The U.S. Men's National Team will play its first game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on June 12.

L.A.'s last match will be a quarterfinal July 10. In between, the city will host six more games and be the site of World Cup celebrations and viewings. In total, the World Cup will last more than a month, from June 11 to July 19, when the final takes place at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

It's going to be an exciting time in the L.A. region for soccer fans and those new to the game, so LAist put together this guide for visitors and locals alike.

When is the World Cup?

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is a 104-game tournament featuring 48 competing countries. It will kick off June 11 at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

The tournament will last 39 days and take place across 16 North American cities.

• USA: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle
• Canada: Toronto, Vancouver
• Mexico: Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey

This is the full schedule for the matches.

The World Cup final will be held at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19.

Can I still get tickets to World Cup games?

Yes, but ticketing for all games — including in Los Angeles — happens in phases through a lottery draw system.

For access to all ticket sales, you’ll need to register a profile through FIFA’s site.

Phases 1 and 2 of the ticket draws have closed, and successful entrants already should be notified of their opportunity to purchase tickets.

There still is the random-selection draw phase, which begins after the World Cup matchups are determined Dec. 5. Fans will be able to apply for specific matches once those are announced.

Closer to the tournament's start, fans will be able to purchase last-minute tickets on a first-come, first-served basis.

You also can find more expensive, premium hospitality packages for games.

For information on the resale/exchange marketplace or travel visa requirements, read FIFA’s ticket site.

What will happen in LA?

L.A. will host eight matches at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. Here's the whole list:

We won’t know which Group Stage teams will play until the draw Dec. 5.

Once the teams are selected, they’ll finalize their base camp locations — the facilities where they will practice and gather.

The Los Angeles World Cup 2026 Host Committee is the nonprofit organizing logistics for the games across Los Angeles. There will be a FIFA Fan Festival at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum and official "fan zones" where people can gather to watch the games.

Ahead of the games, the host committee is putting on free soccer clinics in Los Angeles. The first one will be for coaches Dec. 6 at Los Angeles City College. You can register here.

LA's a soccer city

L.A. has staged world soccer competitions in the past. In 1994, the World Cup final was held at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Brazil defeated Italy in penalties. Five years later, the U.S. defeated China in the Women's World Cup final at the Rose Bowl.

Before that, the 1984 Olympics included men's soccer, with France emerging with the gold medal. Women's soccer wasn't included in the Olympic Games until 1996.

But L.A.'s soccer history stretches back 125 years. From the beginning, immigrant communities have been key to that story, both as players and an enthusiastic fanbase. LAist's Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has that story and more on L.A.'s soccer legacy here.

Los Angeles has three professional soccer teams: the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) and Angel City Football Club.

How do countries qualify for the FIFA World Cup?

The sport Association Football, known in the U.S. as soccer, has different professional leagues and tournaments around the world.  

FIFA oversees the largest of them all, the World Cup, which takes place every four years.

The FIFA tournament qualifying process takes years. This article explains the U.S. National team’s schedule for FIFA’s international window, friendlies and other tournaments.

Technically, this upcoming 2026 FIFA tournament started soon after the last one ended, in September 2023. You already can find their international match calendar into 2030.

A record 48 teams will qualify to compete in the upcoming 2026 games, making this the biggest FIFA World Cup tournament ever.

These are the 121 nations that didn’t qualify.

Geographically, FIFA puts member countries into six continental confederations, which then get a determined amount of qualifying spots.

• AFC (Asia): 8 direct qualification spots + 1 playoff spot
• CAF (Africa): 9 direct qualification spots + 1 playoff spot
• CONCACAF (North America, Central America, and Caribbean): 3 direct qualification spots + 2 playoff spots (+ 3 host nations)
• CONMEBOL (South America): 6 direct qualification spots + 1 playoff spot
• OFC (Oceania) 1 direct qualification spot + 1 playoff spot 
• UEFA (Europe) 16 direct qualification spots

The final six teams will be decided in part during the draw that occurred Nov. 20 and then in March 2026 during the FIFA playoff tournament and European playoffs. 

If you’re wondering how the World Cup differs from the Olympic men’s soccer tournament, it’s a lot. World Cup teams have to take a smaller roster and abide by player age limits — and it’s not officially a FIFA-sanctioned tournament.

How does the FIFA World Cup tournament work?

The FIFA World Cup tournament is broken down into different rounds. This video explains it very well!

The Group Stage: June 11-27

• All teams will be divided up into 12 groups of four teams and will compete within their group.
• The group stage point system is:
  
  • Win: 3 points
  • Draw: 1 point
  • Loss: 0 point
• The top two teams from each group will advance, plus the eight best third-place teams. This part is new!

Round of 32: June 28-July 3

• For the first time in tournament history, there will be a new knockout round: the round of 32. 
• This gives more teams a chance to advance further in the tournament but also means teams going to the final will have to win five knockout matches (up from four). 

The teams that advance will continue on to the final knockout rounds.

• The round of 16: July 4-7
• Quarterfinals: July 9-11
• Semifinals: July 14-15
• Final: July 19

What are the rules of World Cup soccer?

Getting on the same page about the rules of soccer is a critical part of organizing an international tournament of this scale.

FIFA uses the laws of the game from the International Football Association Board, translated into multiple languages.

Most of us know the basics of the game. You kick the ball with your foot into the opponent’s goal, and only the goalie can touch the ball with their hands while it is in play within their own penalty box area.

Here’s a direct link to the explanation of the offside (not “offsides”) rule. That way you’ll be ready in those especially heated moments.

The basic rules during the knockout phase of the tournament are:

• Matches have two halves of 45 minutes each. Unlike in American football, the clock never stops, even during timeouts.  
• Referees add additional “stoppage time” at the end of each half — to compensate for time lost to injuries, substitutions and goal celebrations.
• If the score is tied at the end of regulation, the teams play two additional 15-minute halves.
• If the game is still tied, each team selects five players for a penalty shootout. They take turns trying to kick a goal against the other team’s goalie. Best out of five wins.
• If a tie continues, then the game goes to sudden death. Teams will take turns shooting penalties until one team scores and the other team misses. 

What do I need to know about the U.S. men’s team?  

In total, the U.S. men’s team has appeared in 11 World Cups throughout history. 

They got third place in the inaugural tournament in 1930 but hit a dry spell through most of the 20th century. The team started making more regular appearances again after 1990, even reaching the quarterfinals in 2002. They failed to qualify at all in 2018 but advanced to the knockout stage in 2022 before being defeated by the Netherlands.

As tournament co-hosts in 2026, the US team secured its spot and is looking to do better than its last appearance during the Qatar games of 2022, when the team exited in the Round of 16.

By contrast, the women’s national team has qualified for every single Women’s FIFA World Cup since the first one in 1991 and has won four of them, mostly recently in 2019 against the Netherlands.

The U.S. women’s team already has secured its spot for the 2027 women’s World Cup in Brazil.

We won’t know exactly who will be on the full 26-man roster until the games get closer, but a key person to keep an eye out for is star forward Christian Pulisic, who plays for AC Milan.

This will be the first time Mauricio Pochettino will coach a national team. A former Argentine player who once played in World Cup games, his coaching experience lies more in the European leagues.