The 2026 FIFA World Cup[A] is the 23rd and current FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men's soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament began on June 11, 2026, and will conclude on July 19.[3] It is jointly hosted by 16 cities – 11 in the United States, 3 in Mexico, and 2 in Canada. The tournament is the first FIFA World Cup to be hosted by three nations and the first to include 48 teams, an expansion from the previous 32-team format.[4] World cup #Fifawoldcup2026 #WORLDCUP2026
Aguirre: Mexico ready to end 40 years of knockout pain
Published29 Jun 2026
Mexico's coach believes lessons from his previous World Cup campaigns can help El Tri end a wait of four decades for a FIFA World Cup knockout-stage victory.

The last time Mexico won a knockout match at the FIFA World Cup™ was in 1986. It happened at Mexico City Stadium and current El Tri coach Javier Aguirre lined up in midfield. That afternoon, Manuel Negrete scored one of the most iconic goals in World Cup history, producing a spectacular scissor kick against Bulgaria to set Mexico on their way to a 2-0 victory.
Forty years have passed, and Mexico once again stand on the brink of ending a drought that has haunted several generations. Across the country, fans have poured out onto the streets, driven by the hope that this could finally be the moment.
History, however, offers little encouragement. Since that victory, Mexico have suffered nothing but knockout-stage exits – some more painful than others – and Aguirre has been involved in three of them: first as assistant coach against Bulgaria in 1994, then as head coach against the United States in 2002 and Argentina in 2010.