While anticipation builds for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar starting in November, the world’s football governing body of association football announced on Thursday night the 16 cities that will host the 2026 edition.
A joint hosting bid was won by Canada, Mexico and the United States in June 2018, making 2026 World Cup to first to be anchored by three member-countries. World Cup 2026 will also be groundbreaking in participation as it will feature 48 teams, instead of 32.
In a live TV show from New York, FIFA listed the cities in the co-host as
- Vancouver
- Seattle
- San Francisco
- Los Angeles (SoFi Stadium)
- Guadalajara, Mexico
- Kansas City
- Dallas
- Atlanta
- Houston
- Monterrey, Mexico
- Mexico City
- Toronto
- Boston
- Philadelphia
- Miami
- New York/New Jersey
Eleven of the host cities are in the United States, two in Canada and three in Mexico.
In the United States, the tournament’s western region host cities will be Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco/Bay Area, Los Angeles and Guadalajara.
The central region host cities will be Kansas City, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Monterrey and Mexico City.
The east region games will be in Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami and New York/New Jersey.
The United States’ venues include Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta), AT&T Stadium (Dallas), Gillette Stadium (Boston), NRG Stadium (Houston), Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas City), SoFi Stadium (Los Angeles), Hard Rock Stadium (Miami), MetLife Stadium (New York/New Jersey), Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia), Levi’s Stadium (San Francisco) and Lumen Field (Seattle).
Matches in Canada will be played at BMO Field (Toronto) and BC Place (Vancouver). The venues in Mexico are Estadio Azteca (Mexico City), Estadio BBVA (Monterrey) and Estadio Akron (Guadalajara).
The highly anticipated announcement was made on a TV show produced in cooperation with FOX and Telemundo from New York and broadcast live to host countries and the rest of the world.
FIFA said that the announcement followed “the most transparent and comprehensive bidding process in football history, with FIFA’s decision having been made in the best interests of the game, taking into consideration the needs of all stakeholders involved in the FIFA World Cup 2026″.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said: “We congratulate the 16 FIFA World Cup host cities on their outstanding commitment and passion. Today is a historic day – for everyone in those cities and states, for FIFA, for Canada, the USA and Mexico who will put on the greatest show on earth. We look forward to working together with them to deliver what will be an unprecedented FIFA World Cup and a game-changer as we strive to make football truly global”.
He further said: “We were delighted by the unparalleled competitiveness of this selection process. We are extremely grateful not only to the 16 cities that have been selected, but also to the other six – with whom we look forward to continuing to engage and explore additional opportunities to welcome fans and participating teams. This has always been a FIFA World Cup of three countries, and that undoubtedly will have a tremendous impact on the whole region and the wider football community,” added FIFA Vice President and Concacaf President Victor Montagliani”.
Nigeria failed to qualify for Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, losing to Ghana on goal aggregate in Africa’s final qualifying phase.
