1. Why the World Cup Impacts Processing The 2026 tournament is the first to feature 48 teams and will be held across 16 cities (11 in the U.S.). With over six million tickets available, U.S. embassies are facing an unprecedented surge in applications. To manage this, the State Department has redeployed over 500 additional consular officers to high-demand regions, but wait times for general applicants remain historically high. 2. The Introduction of the "FIFA World Cup Electro