Host cities and venues for the 2026 FIFA World Cup have been locked down. On Thursday, a total of 16 cities from the United States of America, Canada and Mexico were named as hosts for the first-ever 48-team FIFA World Cup.
“This part of the world does not realize what will happen here in 2026,” said a zealous FIFA president, Gianni Infantino.
“I mean these three countries will be upside down and then turned upside down again. The world will invade Canada, Mexico and the United States and they will be invaded by a great wave of joy and happiness because that is football.
A shortlisting process that originally started with 49 stadiums in 44 cities across the three countries was eventually narrowed down to 11 cities in the United States, three in Mexico and two in Canada.
10 matches each will be hosted in Canada and Mexico, while a total of 60, including all knockout matches, will be played at venues across the United States.
Mexico’s Azteca Stadium will become the first to host three men’s World Cups, having previously staged the final in 1970 and 1986. The United States hosted the event in 1994. Canada, meanwhile, will host the tournament for the first time.
Even though the 1994 World Cup attracted a lot of attention, football is still not as big as the four major sports in America, baseball, basketball, American football and ice hockey. Even though the United States Women’s National Team has won the Women’s World Cup four times, more than any other team.
Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Wayne Jones was enthusiastic about the team’s home ground, with AT&T Stadium being one of 11 venues nationwide to host the major tournament in 2026.
“The longer I’ve been playing sports, the more I realize how important football is to this world,” he said.
“Being able to take part in such an event is really great and inspiring. »
A major exclusion among the final 16 cities was that of the US capital, Washington DC. What was a joint bid alongside Baltimore for M&T Bank Stadium missed out on selection.
Local leaders in the capital were mostly positive about the bid and even held a watch party at a downtown DC bar. The mood at the place was obviously low, as seen in a photo posted by a user on Twitter.
The #FIFA announced today the cities that will host matches of the #WorldCup2026 today. Among the nominees was #Washington DC that was not among the venues @eltiempolatino pic.twitter.com/Eb0Kl0ZurH
– Carmen Rodríguez (@LaRodriguezCJ) June 16, 2022
“We will be engaging with any cities that have not been chosen to host matches,” FIFA competitions and events manager Colin Smith said after the announcement.
“There are still many other areas of cooperation, collaboration and celebration. We know what a fan fest on the National Mall would look like.
