The head of Brazil's football federation on Tuesday said he had nixed the much-derided idea of the national team wearing red -- the color associated with the ruling leftist party -- in the 2026 World Cup, which will take place months ahead of elections.

Due to anticipated high demand, FIFA World Cup tickets are released in phases, each via a different process.

With 6.5 million fans expected to attend, the 2026 edition of the FIFA World Cup will be the biggest FIFA World Cup yet, consisting of 48 teams and 104 matches across the three host countries.

So far, 13 teams have sealed their place. Alongside co-hosts Canada, Mexico, and the USA, ten more countries have booked their spots:

Celebrities and soccer stars were due to walk the red carpet at the Fox Studio Lot in Los Angeles - one of the host cities - for the year-to-go event there, a day after President Trump deployed Marines and the National Guard to quell protests.

The largest and most far-flung World Cup kicks off in 12 months with a record 48 teams spread across Canada, the United States, and Mexico and sceptics are asking whether its frenzied growth is worth the environmental cost.

The 2026 tournament will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, but most matches, including the final, are scheduled to be played on American soil.

Days after bidding an emotional farewell to Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti on Monday takes up his new post as Brazil manager, with a mission to restore the lost glory of the five-time World Cup winners.

Pepo made his debut for the national team in 2024 and now, aged 31, the Portugal-born forward is enjoying an impressive run of form for Mozambique, his mother’s country of birth.

“We have to rethink everything we’ve been doing, because the demands will come; the people want us to win,” he said.

Mac Allister, the Liverpool midfielder, once again showed during his side's 4-1 victory against Brazil how comfortable he is in an Argentina shirt.

All eyes were on Brazil's Raphinha ahead of the game after his explosive comments on Romario TV, where he boldly promised Argentina would be “beaten up” both on and off the pitch.

Five-times World Cup winners Brazil have won just once in their last four games and Marquinhos urged his team mates to turn things around as quickly as possible.

Argentina punched their ticket to the 2026 World Cup with flair, delivering a stunning 4-1 demolition of arch-rivals Brazil in Buenos Aires on Wednesday morning (Bangladesh time)

Argentina’s dominance, both in spirit and in skill, now sees them march into the 2026 World Cup with confidence, while Brazil must return to the drawing board to salvage their qualifying campaign.

The result in the match held in the Bolivian city of El Alto guaranteed the 2022 World Cup winners a top-six finish and direct qualification for the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Japan became the first team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup after second-half goals from Daichi Kamada and Takefusa Kubo gave them a 2-0 win over Bahrain on Thursday.

It was a huge boost for Tony Popovic's men in the race to come second in Asian Group C behind runaway leaders Japan and automatically qualify for the 48-team tournament in North America next year.

The World Cup has already been expanded from 32 to 48 teams for next year's edition in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

The road to Canada, Mexico and the USA for FIFA World Cup 26 continues throughout 2025, with the first qualifiers to join the three host nations set to be confirmed in March.