FIFA announced on Wednesday that there will be 16 North American cities hosting the 2026 World Cup, 11 venues in the United States, three in Mexico and two in Canada.
The 2026 World Cup will be the first tournament to be hosted by three nations and the first to be extended to 48 teams.
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Cities officially selected to host the United States World Cup: New York / New Jersey (Medlife Stadium); Los Angeles (SoFi Stadium); Dallas (AT&T Stadium); San Francisco Bay Area (Levy Stadium); Miami (Hard Rock Stadium); Atlanta (Mercedes-Benz Stadium); Seattle (Lumanveld); Houston (NRG Stadium); Philadelphia (Lincoln Treasury Department); Kansas City, Missouri (Arrowhead Stadium); And Boston (Gillette Stadium).
The host of the 1994 World Cup final, Rose Bowl, was not selected and was replaced by another stadium, the Sophie Stadium in Los Angeles.
“This is a very competitive process for the FIFA World Cup,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino told Fox Sports about the selection process. “We work in teams and make sure teams and fans don’t have to travel much in different parts of the West, Central and East.”
The cities officially selected to host the World Cup in Mexico and Canada are: Guadalajara (Estadio Acron), Monterey (Estadio BPVA Pancomar), Mexico City (Estadio Azteca), Toronto (BMO Field) and Vancouver.
“This is a historic day for football and for the entire American football community, from every corner of our grassroots and our national teams,” said Cindy Barlow Cohn, President of the American Football Association. “Along with our good friends in Canada and Mexico, we can not be too excited to partner with FIFA to run what we believe will be the greatest World Cup in history.
“I would like to congratulate all the bidders who are organizing the games. When the world comes to North America in four years, I know you will all do an amazing job of sharing your world-class stadiums, unique communities and culture and amazing fans.
The following candidates are missing: Baltimore / Washington (M&D Bank Stadium); Orlando, Florida (Camping World Stadium); Cincinnati (Paul Brown Stadium); Nashville, Tennessee (Nissan Stadium); Denver (Mile High in Empower Field); And Edmonton (Commonwealth Stadium).
At the three countries’ original “United 2026” auction, 60 games are set to take place in the United States, while Mexico and Canada each receive 10 games. Once the match reaches the quarter-finals, all remaining knockout rounds will take place in the United States.
Starting with candidates from 44 cities and 49 constituencies in North America, In 2017, the process of selecting locations beganPotential applicants were asked to provide information on “each city’s transport infrastructure, past experience hosting major sports and cultural events, available shelters, environmental protection initiatives, potential sites and many more, including potential training sites, base camps and more.” ”
In March 2018, just months before FIFA officially granted the right to hold the 2026 World Cup auction to United 2026, the list of North American candidates was reduced to 23. Countries like Chicago and Minneapolis are not on the list. Also Arizona, as city officials described as problems with FIFA’s financial needs.
Other notable cities that have disappeared from the list of 23 places as of 2018 are Charlotte, North Carolina; Detroit; Las Vegas; Salt Lake City and Tampa, Florida. Vancouver, which was initially closed after a financial crisis, moved to Montreal in 2021 after the provincial government withdrew its support in 2021.
FIFA delegates led by CONCACAF President and FIFA Vice President Victor Montagliani will visit all candidate host cities by the end of 2021.
The Baltimore-Washington joint auction at M&T Bank Stadium was announced in April after FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland. Stream off And decided to merge with the Baltimore Auction. The fan festival is scheduled to take place at the National Mall in Washington.
Since the Rose Bowl was not selected, none of the U.S. grounds from the 1994 Men’s World Cup will be used for the 2026 tournament.
Five of the 2026 World Cup cities – Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York / New Jersey and the San Francisco Bay Area – were in nine places in 1994, while the other five – Atlanta, Kansas City, Miami, Philadelphia and Seattle – were on the 1994 list, but not reduced.
Infantino will not point out FIFA’s hand in hosting the opening match of the 2026 tournament: “There is still some debate, and we will definitely select the best cities for the opening and final matches. This World Cup will be the final.
The Estadio Azteca in Mexico, which hosted the 1970 and 1986 World Cup finals, was the first to host three men’s World Cups. Mexico was the first country to host or co-host three men’s World Cups.
