All 48 qualifiers for World Cup 2026 are in place and attention now turns to their plans for the tournament proper.
World Cup 2026 takes place in the United States, Canada and Mexico in June and July, and, unless Argentina can retain their title, the 104th match will crown the new world champions.
1,248 players in total will be named in the final squads for this summer's tournament in North America, but when will they be announced and what are the deadlines the 48 federations must meet along the way?
When will the World Cup squads be named?
Lionel Scaloni will lead Argentina in their quest to win a second consecutive World Cup. Didier Deschamps, who has won the World Cup with France as a player and manager will name his final squad for the tournament. England's Thomas Tuchel will be among the managers naming a World Cup squad for the first time.
The finals will begin with Mexico vs South Africa at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on Thursday, June 11.
The 48 national team managers will get the ball rolling by submitting a preliminary squad list of up to 55 players by Monday, May 11. The final squads will be drawn from these lists no matter what happens in the meantime.
The preliminary lists, which can include as few as 35 players, will be whittled down to the 26-man final World Cup squads by Saturday, May 30. The first match will be played 12 days later.
Each national team manager can take an additional nine players to the World Cup to participate in training until the first match, meaning a total training squad of 35 players during that time.
Most clubs will be required to make their players available for international duty by Monday, May 25.
The exceptions are clubs whose players are needed to take part in the finals of the Champions League and Conference League in Europe and in the final of the CONCACAF Champions Cup in North and Central America.
World Cup 2026 will conclude with the final at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, July 19. It's the third-largest of the 16 venues that will host matches during the tournament.
We already know that some of the world's top footballers won't be going to the World Cup this summer. With more than 1,000 players set to descend on the host cities for the first time in World Cup history, there are limitless questions remaining about who else will or won't be there.
All of those questions will be answered on May 30.
