World Series 2026: Schedule, Dates and How to Watch
Four teams are left for the 2026 World Series, which opens Friday, October 23 with a possible Game 7 on Halloween. Milwaukee leads the NLCS 2-0 over the two-time defending champion Dodgers after wins of 2-1 and 7-4, and Cleveland leads the ALCS 1-0 after a 7-3 win at Tampa Bay. The NL champion will host Game 1 either way: the Brewers (103-59) and Dodgers (100-62) both finished ahead of the Rays (98-64) and Guardians (85-77). Every game is on FOX. Sources: MLB, ESPN, ABC7, FOX Sports.
The context
The 2026 World Series opens on Friday, October 23 and, if it runs the full seven games, ends on Saturday, October 31. That is Halloween, and it is the first time in years a deciding game has been scheduled for the last day of October. Nothing about the format changed to make that happen; the 2026 calendar simply pushed the regular season, and everything behind it, a few days later than usual.
The series is best of seven in the usual 2-3-2 split. One club hosts Games 1, 2, 6 and 7, the other hosts Games 3, 4 and 5, and the off days fall after Game 2 and after Game 5. Home-field advantage goes to the pennant winner with the better regular-season record, which is worth saying plainly because it is the rule people most often get wrong: playoff seeding decides the shape of each league’s own bracket, not who hosts in October. Once the two champions meet, the 162-game record is the only thing that counts.
As of October 13, four teams are left, and all four are the clubs that earned first-round byes. In the NLCS, the Milwaukee Brewers lead the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-0 after winning 2-1 and 7-4 at home; in Game 2 four Milwaukee relievers retired the last 15 hitters in a row, a postseason record for a bullpen. In the ALCS, the Cleveland Guardians lead the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 after a 7-3 comeback at Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay’s first loss of the postseason. The NLCS moves to Los Angeles for Game 3 on October 14; ALCS Game 2 is October 13 in Tampa Bay. The full bracket is on our MLB playoffs 2026 page.
Home field is already settled in practice. The final records were Brewers 103-59, Dodgers 100-62, Rays 98-64 and Guardians 85-77, so whichever team wins the National League hosts Game 1, in Milwaukee or Los Angeles, and the AL champion hosts Games 3 to 5. Each scenario carries its own history. Milwaukee has never won a title and has not been to a World Series since 1982. Tampa Bay lost its only two, in 2008 and 2020. Cleveland last won in 1948, the longest active drought in the majors. A Dodgers-Rays final would replay 2020.
The Los Angeles Dodgers arrived as back-to-back champions, and their 2025 title is the reason the field was measured against them all month. They beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3, winning Game 7 by 5-4 in 11 innings after Miguel Rojas tied it with a ninth-inning home run and Will Smith settled it two innings later. That made them the first repeat champions since the 2000 Yankees. A third straight title would be the first since the Yankees of 1998 to 2000, but they now have to win four of the next five games against the team they swept in the 2025 NLCS.
Watching it is the simple part this year. Every game is on FOX, with FOX One streaming all seven, which makes the World Series the one round you can follow without moving between services. The earlier rounds are the fragmented ones: NBC and Peacock had the Wild Card Series, TBS and HBO Max carry the American League bracket, and FOX takes the National League. Start times will be confirmed once both pennants are decided; recent World Series games have started around 8 p.m. ET. Sources: MLB, FOX Sports, CBS Sports, ESPN, ABC7, NBC Sports, Wikipedia.
People also ask
True or false?
Game 1 is October 23 in 2026. Early October is the Division Series, two rounds earlier. (MLB)
Game 1 on October 23 plus two travel days puts a deciding game on October 31. (MLB, CBS Sports)
It goes to the pennant winner with the better regular-season record. Seeds only order each league's own bracket. (MLB)
They trail Milwaukee 0-2 in the NLCS after losses of 2-1 and 7-4, and need four wins in the next five games. (ESPN, ABC7)
Their only appearance was in 1982, a seven-game loss to the Cardinals. 2026 would be the first title. (NBC Sports, MLB)
The Guardians finished 85-77, the worst record of the four. Both NL finalists, at 103-59 and 100-62, would hold home field. (MLB, Wikipedia)
Tampa Bay lost its two Fall Classics, in 2008 to the Phillies and in 2020 to the Dodgers. (MLB, NBC Sports)
All seven are on FOX, with FOX One streaming. The earlier rounds are the ones split across NBC, TBS and FOX. (FOX Sports)
It is a 2-3-2 home split between the two clubs. The one neutral-site World Series was 2020, in Arlington, for pandemic reasons. (MLB)