The 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 23rd tournament, is taking place in North America, spread across 14 cities in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Comfortably the most watched (by over half the world population), and loved sporting event in the world, this time (it’s held every four years) it’s been steeped in controversy, and divided opinions due to the nature of the US Trump administration, and the usual crap we have to put up with from FIFA, who appear to have taken monetisation to new, and frankly toxic levels.

For the first time, the number of teams competing has risen from 32 to 48, and there are even calls to expand it to 64, which is frankly ridiculous, no doubt spurred on by FIFA’s legendary greed. They’re struggling to get countries to host it now because of the expense, so imagine doubling the requirements from the 2022 tournament… It kicks off in just two hours from publishing this huge guide, and it took me a week to put together.

Anyway, enough of my ranting. There’s a huge range of gold and silver coins from around the world, and some of them, like the Portuguese effort, are simply terrific. There’s some average quality filler, of course, but in general, the worlds producers have stepped up and done the business. I will endeavour to keep the guide current, and fill in any missing issues, but after grinding through this guide, I’m off to watch the tournament, just to see who will be the runner-up to England…