World Cup Hosts: All time list of countries, cities, stadiums and venues in tournament history

With the 2022 World Cup drawing closer and the 2026 World Cup scheduled for the United States, Mexico and Canada, it’s time to take a look back at the previous World Cup hosts.

Since the tournament’s origins in 1930, when Uruguay hosted 16 countries in the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the tournament has been held every four years, interrupted just once. Since 1950, the tournament has crowned football’s highest honor in every four-year cycle like clockwork.

Brazil have won the most World Cups with five, hosting the tournament twice. No nation has staged more than two tournaments and all five major continents have staged at least one World Cup.

The Sporting News brings you a look back at all the previous World Cups, a full list of the most important stadiums and performances from the host countries.

MORE: A comprehensive look at the 2026 World Cup venues in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Previous World Cup hosts

The first World Cup was held in 1930 in Uruguay, and has been held every four years since, interrupted only once in an eight-year period due to World War II. It has been running continuously since 1950, spanning the globe to crown the best footballing nation in each cycle.

The first Multi-Nation World Cup was held in 2002, with the event being shared between Japan and South Korea. The 2026 World Cup held in the United States, Mexico and Canada will be the second such event.

World Cup hosts and venue distribution

The World Cup has been the unmissable event in world football since its inception in 1930, when Uruguay were the inaugural event at three stadiums in Monteviedo.

Since then, 17 different nations have hosted World Cup matches, with Qatar set to become the 18th later this year and Canada the 19th in 2026.

Mexico was the first country to repeat itself as World Cup hosts when it hosted the tournament for the second time in 1986, and the Estadio Azteca became the first stadium to host two Cup finals of the world. It remains today one of only two venues across the world to have staged multiple World Cup finals, alongside Brazil’s famed Maracana, although the Rose Bowl could join that list if awarded a second World Cup final in 2026.

The Estadio Azteca has also hosted the most World Cup matches, with 19 World Cup matches on this hallowed ground. He will be added to this number at the 2026 World Cup.

Breakdown of World Cup venues

World Cup hosts by continent

European nations have hosted the most World Cups, but in recent years FIFA has clearly made an effort to broadcast the tournament.

If the 2026 World Cup takes place in the United States, Canada and Mexico, the last five World Cups will have taken place on five different continents.

* Scheduled to host the 2022 World Cup
** Scheduled to host the 2026 World Cup

How does the host usually behave at the World Cup?

There is a clear advantage on the pitch when a host country participates in a FIFA World Cup.

Six times in history, a host country has won the tournament on aggregate, with the host reaching the final two other times.

Additionally, 10 times a nation’s performance at their host World Cup is recorded as their best ever result at a World Cup. Although this hasn’t happened recently, the performance still shows a marked increase from the host. For example, while Russia’s run to the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup was technically not the nation’s best World Cup performance (they finished fourth at the 1966 World Cup), it still represented a notable outperformance of where the nation was expected to finish.

Below is a table showing the result of each host country in a FIFA World Cup.

* Best national result in a World Cup tournament