Welcome to the 2026 Volcano World Cup!

The 2026 World Cup is just about the start and although many of us have very mixed feelings about FIFA (to say the least), the same can’t be said about volcanoes!

It has been twelve years since I ran a Volcano World Cup but I thought it was time to bring it back. What is the Volcano World Cup? It is a competition to see which country has the most to boast when it comes to volcanoes. Now, this isn’t just modern volcanoes. It could be a volcanic legacy that spans billions of years, so even if you are a country seemingly devoid of volcanism, you still have a chance!

How does it work? Over the next few weeks, I will post about the volcanoes and volcanic history of the countries in each of the real World Cup groups. Then, you, the reader, will get to vote for which country you think should win the group. Using the byzantine bracket formula for this year’s real World Cup, I will then construct a bracket for the knockout rounds where I will continue to post volcanic facts for each remaining country and you will get to vote to see who moves on. In the end, a champion will be crowned!

What happened in the last Volcanic World Cup? Back in 2014, Chile with its 155 volcanoes beat Italy to capture the crown. Guess what? They can’t defend — they didn’t qualify for the real World Cup. Neither did Italy! So, two titans of volcanism have to watch from the sidelines. However, that leaves the field wide open for a new Volcano World Cup champion.

Group A (Mexico, South Africa, South Korea and Czechia) will be posted on June 11 with the other 11 groups coming across the weeks of group action at the real World Cup. Pick your favorites and hopefully learn a lot about volcanoes along the way. Only one country can be the Volcano World Cup champion … but who will come out on top this time?

Check back here at Eruptions for each new group and see the results for all stages of the Volcano World Cup. You can also keep up with the action by following me on Bluesky.