How many players are on World Cup rosters? Explaining squad size, restriction for 2026 FIFA tournament
How many players are on World Cup rosters? Explaining squad size, restriction for 2026 FIFA tournament originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
As the 2026 FIFA World Cup grows nearer each and every week, national teams are preparing to name the players who will represent their country at the world's premier football competition. Forty-eight teams from around the globe will converge on North America for this summer's tournament, co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The World Cup will begin on June 11 in Mexico City, and after five weeks of competition, a world champion will be crowned at MetLife Stadium outside New York City.
The Sporting News explains how many players will be eligible to represent each country at the tournament, and how those players will be decided. 2026 WORLD CUP HQ: Latest World Cup news | World Cup draw results | World Cup schedule | Buy World Cup tickets How many players are in World Cup rosters? According to the official FIFA regulations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, participant rosters must be at least 23 players and up to 26 players in size.
This is consistent with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. FIFA expanded the squad lists at the previous tournament to accommodate the growing fixture congestion in world football. The COVID-19 pandemic that delayed competitions over the previous two years and increased minute loads was also a factor.
FIFA received overwhelmingly supportive feedback for the change and decided to keep it for the 2026 tournament. Will World Cup 2026 rosters be bigger? Late in 2025 and early in 2026, there were some reports that rosters for the 2026 World Cup could be expanded further from the 26-player limit to 29 or even 30 players.