The draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on December 5 will set the path to glory for the 48 teams competing in North America.
An expanded format, up from the 32-team competition that has been staged for each of the past seven iterations, means this is the biggest version of the World Cup yet.
Matches will be staged across the United States, Canada and Mexico as Lionel Messi and Argentina defend the title they won in unforgettable circumstances in 2022.
It is the first time a World Cup has been jointly staged by three countries and only the second co-hosting after Japan and South Korea held the 2002 tournament.
However, such arrangements are likely to become more commonplace with a bigger World Cup.
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Where is the 2030 World Cup?
The 2030 World Cup will be co-hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco, making it the first tournament to be staged across two continents.
Additionally, to mark the 100th anniversary of the first World Cup in 1930, there will be three "centenary matches".
Two of these games will be held in the capitals of Argentina and Uruguay - Buenos Aires and Montevideo - to mark the first World Cup final, where Uruguay beat Argentina 4-2.
Indeed, Montevideo's Estadio Centenario, the venue for the 1930 World Cup final, is expected to be the first game of the 2030 tournament.
The third centenary match will take place is Asuncion, Paraguay. CONMEBOL, the oldest continental confederation in world football, is headquartered in Paraguay.
These decisions mean there will be 19 host cities, including the centenary matches, up from 16 in 2026. They also had notable consequences in terms of the 2034 World Cup hosting arrangements.
FIFA World Cup host rotation
FIFA implemented a policy of rotating World Cup hosting duties following both political and sporting pressure after the 1950 World Cup.
With CONEMBOL and UEFA the two dominant federations within the developing tournament, FIFA was keen to keep both sides happy, after successive World Cups in Europe in the 1930s in Italy and France.
The policy of direct rotation between Europe and Latin America continued until 1970, when Mexico (CONCACAF) was added to the cycle, followed by Japan and South Korea in 2002 (AFC) and South Africa in 2010 (CAF).
However, FIFA confirmed its decision to end the policy from 2018 World Cup, partly to avoid the scenario where Brazil was the only bidder for the 2014 tournament.
Now, any country can bid for the tournament, provided its confederation has not hosted either of the preceding two editions. It was confirmed after the 2030 hosting arrangements were laid out that the single matches taking place in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay would mean CONMEBOL sitting out the bids for 2034 and 2038 with UEFA, CAF and 2026 host CONCACAF
Where is the 2034 World Cup?
The 2034 World Cup will take place in Saudi Arabia. It will be the third World Cup hosted in Asia, following Japan/South Korea in 2002 and Qatar in 2022. The latter tournament meant no AFC-affiliated country could bid to host in either 2026 or 2030.
Critics claimed the FIFA hosting rules and decisions around 2030 paved the way for a successful Saudi bid with no competition. Mooted combined bids by ASEAN nations and Australia-New Zealand did not materialize.
Saudi Arabia's bid proposal features five host cities, with 15 stadiums used across Riyadh, Jeddah, Khobar, NEOM and Abha. Five stadiums will be renovated, while 10 will be brand new. By comparison, all 16 stadiums for the 2026 World Cup are existing venues.