World Cup towers over all in packed 2026 calendar

The biggest soccer World Cup in history, co-hosted by Mexico, Canada and the United States, is set to outshine all other events on a 2026 sports calendar that is bursting at the seams.

The year kicks off with a winter sports bonanza in February and March with the Milano Cortina Olympics and Paralympics that put the spotlight on hosts Italy with its long winter sports tradition.

The successful return of veteran Lindsey Vonn, who at the age of 41 became the oldest winner of a World Cup race earlier in December, is a timely boost for the February 6-22 Games. The Paralympics will be held from March 6-15.

The T20 men’s cricket World Cup in India and Sri Lanka will run almost simultaneously with the Winter Games but the focus will shift quickly back to soccer and the World Cup playoffs in March.

They will offer the final six spots for the June 11-July 19 tournament that will have a total of 48 participating nations, an increase from 32, with 104 matches culminating in the New Jersey final.

Among the countries still battling for a slot are four-time world champions Italy, who failed to qualify for the last two editions in 2018 and 2022, as well as Ukraine, Sweden, Bolivia, Wales, Iraq and Jamaica among others.

Huge demand for tickets

World governing body FIFA last week received five million requests for World Cup tickets in the first 24 hours of the latest sales phases despite an outcry from fan groups about high prices for the tournament. Fans from more than 200 countries and territories applied via FIFA.com for seats.

In the first quarter of 2026, a decision is also expected from the International Olympic Committee regarding the eligibility of transgender athletes in international competitions, with the Olympic body determined to have a universal rule in place, as it has said, to protect the female sports category.

But after the May 30 Champions League soccer final in Budapest, all eyes will shift to the World Cup, with most national teams going into their pre-tournament training camps.

For the next six to eight weeks, all sports from Formula One to the Jannik Sinner-Carlos Alcaraz Grand Slam tennis rivalry and the Tour de France will struggle to command their usual attention as the World Cup is expected to dominate sports and politics headlines, with U.S. President Donald Trump a strong supporter of the tournament.

Four days after the World Cup final, the Commonwealth Games kick off in Glasgow on July 23 with a scaled-down event that has been plagued by problems in recent years, leaving its relevance and future unclear.

Glasgow stepped in at short notice after the Australian state of Victoria pulled out of hosting the event in 2023.

September then sees the first edition of athletics’ Ultimate Championships over three days in Budapest.

Billed as the “best of the best” with almost no qualifying rounds, organisers hope it will fill the void by giving the sport a global event every year.