The 2026 World Cup in North America is just around the corner but is it in danger of being too bloated? 

The June 11-July 19 tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada will feature a record 48 teams from six confederations, with 12 groups of four teams each.

A new round of 32 will make its debut and the tournament will feature a record 104 matches in total, 40 games more than the 2022 edition in Qatar.

Four countries that will be making their debut in North America are Curacao – the smallest nation ever to qualify for a World Cup – fellow minnows Cape Verde, and Asian newcomers Jordan and Uzbekistan.

In comparison over World Cup history, the first tournament in Uruguay in 1930 had just 13 teams – three groups of three and one group of four nations. One winner from each group advanced to the semi-finals and the tournament comprised only 18 matches. There were no qualifiers then as it was an invitational tournament.

In this episode, The Straits Times collaborates with Money FM 89.3’s Sports Minutes to invite nine fans in Singapore - who hail from participating World Cup nations - and together with columnist and pundit Neil Humphreys, they look ahead to what is in store at the June 11 to July 19 tournament.

Representing their home countries but based in Singapore, are the following fans featured:

Mexico: Mauricio Espinoza, chef/owner of Papi's Tacos in SG

Argentina: Lucas Bilbao, co-founder, Minga Creative Company

France: Stephane Missier, chief strategy officer, BBH Singapore

Brazil: Matheus De Moura Sena, senior tax manager, Deloitte

Spain: Sahil Naresh Primalani, founder, Aula De Lenguas

England: Faraaz Marghoob, group strategy director, BBH Singapore

Morocco: Karim Bencherifa, football coach

Japan: Shuya Yamashita, BG Tampines Rovers footballer

Germany: Lennart Thy, Lion City Sailors footballer

Try out The Straits Times World Cup results simulator: https://www.straitstimes.com/multimedia/graphics/2025/12/worldcup-2026-simulator/index.html

Highlights (click/tap above):

0:55 Humphreys: Quality over quantity? Was it only about the money, not simply inclusivity & diversity?

2:43 Mexico, masks and the love of the game 

5:12 Can Argentina make it two in a row? 

7:00 A classic modern rivalry between France and Argentina

8:40 Mayonnaise: How mixing special ingredients needs to be done right too, in the case of France with many superstars

10:00 A comeback for Brazil, Spanish flair, or is football finally "coming home"?

14:06 The Morocco dream, history for Japan? Will Germany switch it?

19:09 Can World Cup 2026 overcome all the issues surrounding it?

22:10 World Cup 2026 favourites? Dark horses?

36:35 Is Cristiano Ronaldo too old? Who else should win the World Cup?

Host: Deepanraj Ganesan (gdeepan@sph.com.sg) & Zia-ul Raushan (raushan@sph.com.sg)

Filmed by: Studio+65

Edited by: Jonathan Roberts, deputy head, Audience Lab (video)

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