Hold onto your hats and your eye-watering “variably” priced World Cup tickets, 2026 promises to be a seismic year for football.

The Africa Cup of Nations, which kicked off in Morocco last week, sets the tone for the calendar. January’s final in Rabat on January 18 sets the potential stage for ‘The Egyptian King’ Mohamed Salah to finally capture the continental crown after twice falling at the last hurdle.

The Liverpool star will have no chance for revenge in March’s Carabao Cup final on March 22 though, with reigning holders Newcastle — who ended their 70-year wait for a domestic trophy with triumph against the Reds last season — a two-leg win over Manchester City away from returning to Wembley. Chelsea and Arsenal are in the mix in the other semi-final.

Mohamed Salah scoring for Egypt against Zimbabwe at AFCON (Getty Images)

Just four days later on March 26, the World Cup qualification playoffs get underway to whittle down 22 hopeful nations into the six remaining available spots at the summer tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

In the inter-confederation bracket, Jamaica face New Caledonia for the chance to play DR Congo in a winner-takes-all showdown, while the victor of Bolivia against Suriname will face Iraq for a spot at the finals.

In the European bracket, 16 sides are vying for four tickets across the pond. Northern Ireland and Wales could meet in one final should they get past Italy and Bosnia and Herzegovina respectively, while the Republic of Ireland must defeat the Czech Republic to set up a decider against Denmark or North Macedonia.

Those teams which are successful will be among the 48 sides lining up for the tournament proper in June, even if many of their supporters may be priced out of cheering them on from the stands.

FIFA hiked ticket prices again following the draw earlier this month, with some standard group stage tickets now listed at $700. A seat for the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19? That’ll be, at the very least, $8,680 please.

Around the same time is the U19 European Championships taking place in Wales. Stars including Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba, Arsenal’s £55million-man Viktor Gyökeres, and a host of players who went on to become mainstays for England have featured before so some big names of the future are likely to appear. It’ll run from June 28 to July 11.

FIFA’s latest creation, the Women’s Champions Cup 2026 pits continental club champions against each other. The finals takes place in London between January 28 to February 1, with rounds one and two having been completed already. Arsenal, Gotham FC, SC Corinthians, and Moroccan outfit AS FAR make up the final four.

Elsewhere in the women’s game, it’s the U20 World Cup in Poland, taking place between September 5 to September 27.

Amid all of that there’s a world’s worth of domestic schedules to tie up, with the UEFA Champions League final lowering the curtain on the European men’s club calendar on May 30, a week after the corresponding women’s final on May 23.

Come August 12, it all kicks off again with the UEFA Super Cup in Austria. Whew.

Paris Saint-Germain lift the Champions League trophy after beating Inter Milan last May (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Dates for your diary

Sunday 18 January, Africa Cup of Nations final
Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat

February 1, Women’s Champions Cup 2026 final
Emirates Stadium, London

Sunday 22 March, Carabao Cup final
Wembley Stadium, London

Thursday 26 March – Tuesday 31 March
FIFA World Cup 2026 Play-Off Tournament

Saturday 16 May, FA Cup final
Wembley Stadium, London

Saturday 16 May
Bundesliga and Ligue 1 final gameweek

Sunday 17 May
Women’s Super League final gameweek

Wednesday 20 May, UEFA Europa League final
Besiktas Park, Istanbul

Saturday 23 May, UEFA Women’s Champions League final
Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo

Sunday 24 May
Premier League, Serie A and La Liga final gameweek

Wednesday 27 May, UEFA Conference League final
Red Bull Arena, Leipzig

Saturday 30 May, UEFA Champions League final
Puskas Arena, Budapest

Thursday 11 June – Sunday 19 July, FIFA World Cup
USA, Canada, Mexico

Sunday 28 June – Saturday July 11, U19 European Championships
Wales

Wednesday 12 August, UEFA Super Cup
Red Bull Arena, Salzburg