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Original explainers on international football: the road to the 2030 World Cup, the Women’s World Cup in Brazil 2027, how qualifying works in every confederation, and a century of World Cup history.
Written by our team and kept up to date as FIFA and the confederations confirm dates and formats — from the next tournaments on the calendar to the records that still stand.
The first Women's World Cup in South America runs from 24 June to 25 July 2027 across eight Brazilian cities, opening and closing at the Maracanã. Here is everything confirmed so far: the stadiums, the 18 teams already qualified, the draw date and how the 32-team format works.
Read guideSpain, Portugal and Morocco host the 2030 World Cup, with Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay staging the centenary openers — six teams already in. The other 42 places are decided from 2027. Here is the confirmed picture confederation by confederation, and where CONMEBOL's own format is still being decided.
Read guideTwenty-three tournaments, eight different champions and a century of finals. From the 13 teams that sailed to Montevideo in 1930 to the 48-team edition won by Spain in New Jersey, this is the story of the World Cup era by era — with the records that still stand and the ones that fell in 2026.
Read guideSix confederations, six very different roads to the World Cup: South America's marathon league, Europe's groups, Africa's and Asia's multi-round systems, CONCACAF's regional ladder and Oceania's single slot. A plain-language explainer of who qualifies, how ties are broken and how the inter-confederation play-off works.
Read guideThe biggest World Cup ever rewrites the rulebook. Here is exactly how the new 48-team tournament is built — from the group draw to the brand-new Round of 32 and the maths behind the best third-placed teams.
Read guideEvery win probability on the site comes from one transparent statistical engine — Elo ratings feeding a Poisson goals model, simulated thousands of times over the real 2026 bracket. Here is how it works, and what the numbers do and don't mean.
Read guideThe reigning world champions arrive as one of the favourites again. We look at the squad carrying the torch from Qatar, the questions around an ageing core, and what the model makes of their hopes of a fourth star.
Read guideNo country has more World Cup titles, and none has waited longer for its next one. We assess Brazil's dazzling attack, the questions that keep undoing them in the knockouts, and how the model rates a sixth crown.
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