JATIM PR – The 2026 World Cup has now officially started and is ready to make new history as the biggest tournament ever hosted by FIFA.
Taking place from 11 June to 19 July 2026, this grand competition was held for the first time in three countries at once, namely the United States, Canada and Mexico.
This moment was Canada’s first debut as host, while the United States returned to hosting the tournament after the 1994 edition, and Mexico successfully broke the record as the first country to host three times after previously succeeding in 1970 and 1986.
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The highest stage of world football was opened with the inaugural match between Mexico and South Africa at Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, and will later be closed with the final at MetLife Stadium, New Jersey.
The most striking change in this edition is the significant increase in the number of participants from 32 to 48 countries.
This new format opens up great opportunities for developing countries, as evidenced by the presence of four debut teams, namely Cape Verde, Curacao, Uzbekistan and Jordan.
The excitement of the tournament also became more colorful with the introduction of three official mascots that represent the uniqueness of each country, namely Maple the moose from Canada, Zayu the jaguar from Mexico, and Clutch the bull eagle from the United States.
All of these exciting matches are spread across 16 legendary cities, where the United States dominates with 11 cities, followed by Mexico with 3 cities, and Canada with 2 selected cities.
Apart from increasingly fierce competition, FIFA also brings the latest technological innovations through the official ball made by Adidas called Trionda.
The ball, which symbolizes the wave of unity between the three countries, is equipped with a sophisticated sensor chip that is capable of recording movement automatically real-time to help the accuracy of the referee’s decisions through the VAR system.
Outside the field, the atmosphere at the football party was very lively thanks to the presence of the official song “Goals” sung by Lisa, Anitta, and Rema, as well as songs “Dai Dai” the result of a collaboration between Shakira and Burna Boy.
From a financial aspect, the 2026 World Cup breaks the record for the largest prize pool in history in total prize money reached the US$871 million or around IDR 15.5 trillion, where the team that succeeds as champion will take home a fantastic prize of US$50 million or the equivalent of IDR 892 billion.***
