World Cup 2026 Squad Deadlines - Key Information & Dates

🗓️ Key Dates

The road to betting on the World Cup is paved with deadlines, so here's how each stage works.

Preliminary List: May 11th

The first stage of the squad announcement process gives us the first taste of how this summer will unfold. By midnight, all 48 nations had to submit a provisional squad to football’s governing body, dubbed the "release list", giving coaches the legal right to call up players for pre‑tournament friendlies and camps.

On top of this, a maximum of 75 team officials, including the coaching staff, medical staff and the manager themselves are included in the list. This means that each national side are allowed up to 130 names on their preliminary lists.

These provisional squads are considerable in size, containing between 35 and 55 players, including four goalkeepers as an absolute minimum requirement (with three going to the tournament). England, for example, named a long list that included surprising call‑ups for Danny Welbeck and Luke Shaw, but for many top nations, the European season only finishes at the end of May, so there’s still plenty of time to account for changes.

While you’ll see stars like Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham on these lists, the full squads won't be together for a chunk of this period as they finish up their club commitments.

Players Released: May 25th

It’s on this date that focus officially shifts from club football to the World Cup, with clubs required to release their playing staff for international duty.

There are however some exceptions for players involved in major continental finals. For instance, each of the Europa League final (May 20 in Istanbul), the Conference League final (May 27 in Leipzig), and the Champions League final (May 30 in Budapest) are yet to take place at the time of writing and players involved in these fixtures will be allowed more time before they fly out.

Final List: Monday 1st June

Next up is the deadline to submit finalised squad lists to football’s governing body, which is a key moment for all 48 coaches.

This list includes every single aspect of each nation’s tournament plans, covering everything from hotel bookings to kit numbers.

It also means that managers have the unenviable task of reducing their provisional squad of players (35-55 players) down to the final list of 26, meaning plenty of tough conversations.

📣 Squad Announcements: June 2nd

While many nations will announce their completed squads “unofficially” much earlier than this date, all completed squad lists will be published officially on Tuesday, 2nd June. This is nine days before the tournament kicks off, giving everyone time to prepare for the first game.

Tournament Dates and Key Information

With 48 teams and 32 knockout spots up for grabs, this World Cup will also have a unique group‑plus‑play‑off structure. If you’re at all confused by what this means and how it works, here’s a breakdown of all 104 matches:

Stage	Matches	Dates	Format
Group Stage	48	June 11th-27th	12 groups of 4. Top 2 from each group (24 teams) plus 8 best third‑placed teams advance.
Round of 32	16	June 28th-July 3rd	Single‑elimination knockout.
Round of 16	8	July 4th-7th	Single‑elimination knockout.
Quarter-finals	4	July 9th-11th	Single‑elimination knockout.
Semi-finals	2	July 14th-15th	Single‑elimination knockout.
Bronze medal match	1	July 18th	Third-place play-off.
Final	1	July 19th	Single‑elimination knockout. (MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey.)

Here is everything you need to know about the schedule, venues, and injury rules for the 2026 World Cup:

What Are the Conditions for Injured Players?

Injuries are an inevitable part of football, often crushing a team's chances before they name the final squad, and there are strict protocols in place for this instance.

If a player suffers a serious injury or illness before the tournament starts, they can be replaced. However, the replacement must come from the preliminary list of 55 players. It also must be made no later than 24 hours before the team's first match.

The only exception in this circumstance is for goalkeepers, who, if injured during the World Cup, can be swapped out at any time by their managers, giving them license to select a fresh goalkeeper from the original 55‑man pool.

How Many Players Will There Be per Squad?

Each of the 48 nations will take a squad of 26 players. The minimum size is 23, and at least three of those on the list must be goalkeepers. In total, that means a maximum of 1,248 players will be on the official tournament list.

What Countries Are Hosting and in What Cities?

For the first time in World Cup history, this year's tournament will be a three‑nation effort, with games being played across 16 cities. Here’s a quick look at the cities that will host each game by nation:

Country	Host Cities
United States	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