FIFA has confirmed that the match between Tunisia and Japan, scheduled for June 20, 2026, in Monterrey, Mexico, will be the 1,000th fixture in FIFA World Cup history, a milestone that stretches back to the inaugural tournament in 1930.
The match is set for 22:00 local time at one of Mexico’s storied venues.
A World Cup unlike any before it
The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off on June 11, 2026, spread across Canada, Mexico, and the United States. It’s the first tournament to feature 48 teams, a substantial expansion from the 32-team format that had been the standard since 1998.
FIFA released the full match schedule on December 6, 2025, mapping out the sprawling logistics of hosting a tournament across three countries and multiple time zones. The referee assignments followed on April 9, 2026, when FIFA confirmed a pool of 52 match referees for the competition.
