From 11 June to 19 July 2026, the heart of world football beats in North America: for the first time in the tournament's history, three nations share hosting duties for the FIFA World Cup. The United States, Canada and Mexico are turning the entire continent into one giant football stage. With 48 teams, 104 matches and 39 tournament days, the 2026 World Cup will be the biggest and longest World Cup of all time – a mammoth event that sets new standards and ushers the game into a new era.
The host cities stretch across half a continent – from Vancouver in the north-west all the way down to Mexico City in the south. In the United States, the ball rolls in eleven cities, including New York/New Jersey, Los Angeles, Boston, Miami, Dallas, Houston, Seattle, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Kansas City and San Francisco. Canada is represented by Toronto and Vancouver, while Mexico contributes the metropolises of Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. The legendary Estadio Azteca in Mexico City has the honour of staging the opening match, while the final will be played on 19 July 2026 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, just outside New York. Nearly 4,000 kilometres separate the northernmost and southernmost venues – a logistical challenge the tournament has never faced before.
With the expansion to 48 nations, FIFA has rolled out an entirely new tournament format. The teams are split into twelve groups of four and play a total of 72 matches in the group stage. Alongside the group winners and runners-up, the eight best third-placed sides also advance to the knockout phase. This creates, for the first time, a Round of 32 featuring 32 teams – one more knockout round than in previous tournaments. The path to the trophy is now longer than ever: the eventual champion will have to win eight matches rather than the traditional seven. For supporters, that means even more drama, more tension and significantly more live football than ever before.
The Republic of Ireland will not be at the 2026 World Cup, extending an absence from the global stage that now stretches back to 2002. Heimir Hallgrímsson's side came agonisingly close, finishing second behind Portugal in their qualifying group and reaching the UEFA play-off semi-final on 26 March 2026 at the Fortuna Arena in Prague. A Troy Parrott penalty after 19 minutes and a Matej Kovar own goal four minutes later sent the Boys in Green 2-0 up against Czechia and put them within touching distance of the play-off final. But Patrik Schick pulled one back from the spot before half-time, and Ladislav Krejci's late header forced extra time. After thirty further goalless minutes, the tie went to a penalty shoot-out – and missed kicks from Finn Azaz and Alan Browne broke Irish hearts, with the Czechs running out 4-3 winners on spot-kicks. The blow was compounded by Sammie Szmodics being concussed in the build-up to the shoot-out and unable to take a penalty. Czechia went on to beat Denmark on penalties five days later to claim the spot in Group A. For Ireland, this will be the sixth consecutive World Cup the country has watched from afar – the last appearance came at Korea/Japan 2002, when the team reached the Round of 16 before losing on penalties to Spain.
The tournament's geographic spread across four time zones means a genuine test of endurance for supporters back home in Ireland. Depending on the venue, the time difference ranges between five and eight hours. Matches in Mexico and on the US West Coast often kick off, from an Irish perspective, deep into the night, while games on the East Coast of the US and in Canada still get under way at fairly reasonable evening hours. Never before has a World Cup offered such a broad spread of kick-off times: from an Irish point of view, the ball rolls daily from late afternoon around 5pm Irish time until the small hours, towards 5 or 6am Irish time. Anyone hoping to follow every match live will need to factor in more than a few late nights.
The variety of kick-off times calls for some clever planning. Matches in Mexico City and at US East Coast venues generally kick off between 5pm and 9pm Irish time – nicely placed to slot into an Irish evening. Games in the middle US time zones – Dallas, Houston or Kansas City – often kick off around 11pm or midnight. Particularly tough are matches in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle or Vancouver: many of these begin between 2am and 5am Irish time. The late group-stage matches in particular are tailor-made for catching on a radio stream – tucked up in bed, on the morning commute or as background while you get on with the day.
It's precisely these unusual kick-off times that make the 2026 World Cup a tournament built for radio listeners. Anyone who can't sit in front of a television in the middle of the night – but still doesn't want to miss a moment – is brilliantly served by a live radio stream. Audio coverage slips effortlessly into daily life: over breakfast, on the go with your smartphone, in the car or on a lunchtime walk. While many TV broadcasts are tied to fixed schedules and video streaming services demand a rock-solid internet connection, radio comes into its own with its flexibility, modest data usage and the emotional power of great commentary voices – with all the relevant Irish and international streams bundled into one place.
The 2026 World Cup is about much more than just football – it's also a meeting of three cultures. The three official mascots reflect the character of the host nations: Maple the Canadian moose, Zayu the Mexican jaguar and Clutch the American bald eagle. For the first time, the final will also feature a halftime show – inspired by the Super Bowl and headlined by Coldplay. Weather conditions vary dramatically: while Vancouver and Toronto enjoy mild summer temperatures, players and supporters in Dallas, Houston and Monterrey will have to brace themselves for heat well above 35°C. High humidity in Miami and Mexico City's altitude of more than 2,200 metres above sea level add further sporting challenges on top.
Whether it's the opening ceremony at the Estadio Azteca, the big European favourites in action or the grand final in New York: with ie.radio.net, you can follow the entire 2026 FIFA World Cup by audio – flexibly, and in the best quality. Choose between full match commentary, score updates and behind-the-scenes shows built around the World Cup, and experience the biggest sporting event of the year entirely on your own schedule – whether the match kicks off at 7pm or 3am. Even without the Boys in Green on the pitch, the tournament is still essential listening.
Listen to the matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup live via the radio web stream on ie.radio.net and cheer your team on along the road to the most coveted trophy in the world. Whether you're on the go with your smartphone, in the car or at home – you'll find match results and live radio broadcasts of selected fixtures all in one place. Live and free!
Countless radio stations around the world run reports, analysis and live commentary around the clock throughout the tournament. On our 2026 FIFA World Cup overview page, we bundle these streams together – so you can quickly find the right station in your language and won't miss a match, no matter what time zone you're in.
South Africa
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Qatar
South Korea
Australia
Morocco
Haiti
Paraguay
Sweden
Ivory Coast
Curaçao
Japan
Saudi Arabia
Iran
Cape Verde
Egypt
Austria
Iraq
Senegal
Algeria
Uzbekistan
Ghana
Croatia
DR Congo
Ireland