2026 FIFA World Cup

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is the 23rd edition of the FIFA Men's World Cup, the first to feature 48 national teams (expanded from 32) and the first co-hosted across three nations: the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Matches are played across 16 stadiums in 11 US cities, three Canadian cities, and three Mexican cities; the tournament opened on 11 June 2026 and runs to 19 July 2026. With an expected attendance exceeding five million across all matches, it is the largest-format World Cup in the competition's history. The expanded format extends the group stage and requires a new round of 32 before the traditional knockout rounds begin.

The tournament has become a significant national-security event in addition to a sporting one. The US Department of Homeland Security and FEMA staged $250m in Counter-UAS grants across 11 host states and the National Capital Region ahead of the opening , and vendors including DroneShield and Sentrycs (owned by Ondas Holdings) were selected to provide counter-drone coverage at specific venues . Separately, the US, Canada, and Mexico announced joint Ebola screening protocols for tournament arrivals, reflecting the parallel public-health security posture applied to events of this scale.

For the counter-drone and autonomous-systems industry, the World Cup functions as a live audition at a complex, high-profile civilian site. A positive operational reference from a tournament watched worldwide carries more commercial weight than a laboratory test, and vendors selected for the programme gain a credential that accelerates access to subsequent federal procurement cycles. The tournament therefore represents both a genuine security commitment and a contested procurement shop window for the C-UAS sector.