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Learn English through Football Podcast: 2026 World Cup in Numbers
The men’s World Cup starts on June 11th and in this week’s football-language podcast we look at some of the numbers behind the tournament in our first preview of the tournament. We also have an online worksheet for this listening. You can read the transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions about the phrase or our podcast then you can contact us here.
Hello
DF: You’re listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast. Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing well. My name is Damian, and I am one half of the Learn English through Football Podcast team and I am based in London where the weather is nice and cool which is a nice break after all the heat we had in May. I wonder how Damon, the other member of the Learn English through Football team is doing in Tokyo, Japan? How are you Damon?
DB: Hi Damian, just like over there it is a bit cooler in Japan. I’m enjoying it while it lasts as summer’s here can be unbearably hot. Today’s podcast focuses on the men’s World Cup. Are you getting excited?
DF: Well, yes I am looking forward to the World Cup – less than a week to go! Actually, I will be travelling to Mexico to see a couple of games there so I am very excited indeed. I will be going to Monterrey to see Japan take on Tunisia in Group F and then South Africa versus South Korea in Group A a few days later. It’s gonna’ be fantastic!
DB: That does sound great, and the matches you’ll be watching should be really interesting. That’s one thing that is great about the World Cup, isn’t it ? These match ups between teams that wouldn’t normally play each other.
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in Dutch)
DF: Yes, you are listening to the Learn English through Football podcast and that was in Dutch. And of course the Netherlands have qualified for the 2026 World Cup finals but did you know that there are two other countries at the World Cup that have Dutch has one its official languages? Curaçao also have Dutch as one of three official languages (Papiamento and English are the other two), while Belgium has French and Dutch. And we’ll be hearing some more stingers or messages in different languages throughout the show and all of these languages are from countries that have qualified for this year’s World Cup. So, unfortunately, that means no Italian and no Irish!
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in Korean)DB: And that was another stinger. What language was that in? We’ll have the answers at the end of the show.
Today’s Show
DB: Right let’s kick off with the main section of today’s podcast. Damian will be taking a look at the Wolrd Cup through key numbers and facts. There are some questions at the start and you can check how much you understood by reviewing those questions at the end of the section. There are also some key vocabulary items highlighted. But most of all, this is a really interesting look at the facts and figures behind the World cup.
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in Spanish)
2026 World Cup Listening
DF: The 2026 World Cup kicks off on June 11 and in this listening practice we will look at some of the numbers connected to the tournament. Do you know how many countries are taking part? How many stadiums or stadia are being used? How many groups are there? You can find out the answers to these questions and more by listening to the next part of our podcast.
Vocabulary Preparation
Before we start let’s look at some of the key words from this listening to help you prepare.
- Tournament: This is the full competition and here it means the 2026 World Cup.
- Venue: This is the place where the games or the tournament takes place.
- To kick off: And this means to start; so we can kick off the tournament or kick off a game.
- To host / the host: In the World Cup, these are the countries where the games are taking place (so, the USA; Mexico and Canada).
- To co-host: And this is when countries host a tournament together.
- Group stage: This is the first part of the tournament and this decides which teams will play in the knock-out rounds.
- Make their debut: To play in their first game; this could be a player or a team.
So, listen out for these words and phrases to help you understand this listening a little more.
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in French)
Introduction
OK, so the 2026 World Cup kicks off in Mexico City on June 11 when one of the hosts, Mexico, face South Africa. This will be the 23rd World Cup, the 23rd version of the competition, that started almost 100 years ago in 1930.
Hosts
Mexico are not the only hosts of this tournament. There are two other countries that will share the hosting; so there are three co-hosts: Mexico; Canada and the United States of America. This will be the first time that three countries have co-hosted the tournament and it will also be the first time that Canada will host the finals. The USA hosted in 1994 so this will be the second time for them, while it will be the third time for Mexico as they previously hosted in 1970 and 1986.
Groups
Another change to this year’s tournament is the number of teams involved or taking part. For the first time there will be 48 teams. And this is an increase of 16 teams from recent tournaments. This also means there will be more groups in the first stage (or group stage) than before. Each group has four teams so there will now be 12 groups in total. In the last World Cup in Qatar there were eight groups of four.
How long?
So, in total there will be 104 matches which is an increase from 64 in the last seven tournaments. And this means that the World Cup will take place over 39 days which is a week longer than usual. A lot of football indeed!
Qualifying
So, how can teams qualify for the knock-out rounds? Well, similar to previous tournaments, the top two sides in each group will qualify for the next stage. And this will give us 24 teams so the remaining eight teams will be those teams that finished third in the group with the best records. And this will mean 32 teams for the first knock-out round.
Venues
We have already said that this World Cup will be played in three different countries and there will be 16 different host cities in these three countries. There will be three in Mexico; two in Canada and 11 in the USA. As we have already mentioned, the opening game will be in Mexico while the final takes place in New Jersey in the USA.
Debuts
Brazil is the only country that has played in all of the World Cups but do you know that there are four countries that will make their debuts this time? This means of course that they have never played in a World Cup final before; it’s their first time in the tournament. And these four countries are: Cape Verde; Curacao; Jordan and Uzbekistan.
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in Czech)
Understanding the listening: Answers
DB: So, at the start of this listening text we asked some questions about the 2026 World Cup. Let’s see how much you remember.
- How many countries are co-hosting the tournament? Three (Canada; USA and Mexico)
- How many countries are taking part in this World Cup? (48)
- How many groups are there? (12 groups)
- When was the first World Cup? (1930)
- How many World Cup tournaments have there been? (22 – this will be the 23rd edition)
- How many countries will be playing in their first World Cup? (four: Cape Verde; Curaçao; Jordan and Uzbekistan)
Online Quiz
DF: Now, many of our regular listeners will know that we have had worksheets for many of our podcasts over the years. Well, we are trialling something new at the moment and we’d like to know what you think about it. We are going to have some online lessons during the World Cup that can help learners of English with their listening and of course with their vocabulary building. Just come along to our site here at Learn English Through Football and click on the online lesson button with this post. And let us know what you think.
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in Swedish)
Contact
DB: Now, if you want to get in contact with us with a football-language question or you have a comment on our show or about the World Cup, then you can do this by coming along to our World Cup forum or by writing to us at: contact@learnenglishthroughfootball.com. While you are visiting our site, you can also check out our glossary of football terms, expressions, phrases and clichés about the beautiful game of football.
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in Portuguese from Brazil)
DF: OK, what language do you think that was? It would be great if you could send us a message like that saying, ‘You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast‘ in your language, or any language that you know. Just send it on to: contact@learnenglishthroughfootball.com.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (inTwi from Ghana)
DB: Thank you for that final message, which was in Twi from Ghana. The Black Stars from Ghana will be in Group L along with England, Panama and Croatia. We also heard messages in Dutch, Korean, Spanish, French, Czech, Swedish and Portuguese from Brazil. And, as we said before, we’d love to hear from you if you’d like to record a message in any language that you know.
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.
Goodbye
DF: Thank you everyone again for listening. This week we looked at the World Cup through numbers: how many teams; how many stadia and how many host cities there are, for example. We looked at some words, like: venue; group stage and co-host. Let us know if you hear any words or phrases from today’s show in any language that you know and drop us a line here at Learn English Through Football. And don’t forget to try out the online lessons as well!
We’ll see you early next week when we’ll have some more football expressions from the World Cup. Until then, bye bye.
DB: Ta-ra!
Related Links
Learn English Through Football Podcast: A show for football fans to improve their English language skills
