FIFA Men's 2026 World Cup Sites Announced June 16; 17 U.S. Stadiums Among Candidates
May 20, 2022
The men's 2026 FIFA World Cup is set to be held in North America for the first time since 1994, but we still don't know which cities will host matches.
Luckily, that will change next month when soccer's international governing body announces the sites on June 16 in New York, according to the Associated Press.
The United States, Canada and Mexico are set to host the world's premier soccer tournament, and 17 U.S. stadiums are still in the running to host matches.
The United States is set to host 60 World Cup games, while Canada and Mexico will host 10 games each.
The U.S. is expected to have either 10 or 11 host sites, while Canada and Mexico will both get three host sites.
The potential Canadian host sites include Edmonton, Alberta's Commonwealth Stadium, Toronto's BMO Field and Vancouver's B.C. Place. The Mexican host stadiums include Estadio Akron in Guadalajara, Estadio Azteca in Mexico City and Estadio BBVA in Monterrey.
The United States still has a lengthy list of potential host sites. Chicago, Minneapolis, Las Vegas and Charlotte, North Carolina, are among the cities that have already been eliminated or have withdrawn.
That said, here's the list of stadiums and cities that are still in the running:
- AT&T Stadium: Arlington, Texas
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium: Atlanta
- M&T Bank Stadium: Baltimore
- Paul Brown Stadium: Cincinnati
- Empower Field at Mile High: Denver
- MetLife Stadium: East Rutherford, New Jersey
- Gillette Stadium: Foxborough, Massachusetts
- NRG Stadium: Houston
- SoFi Stadium: Inglewood, California
- Arrowhead Stadium: Kansas City, Missouri
- Hard Rock Stadium: Miami Gardens, Florida
- Nissan Stadium: Nashville, Tennessee
- Camping World Stadium: Orlando, Florida
- Rose Bowl: Pasadena, California
- Lincoln Financial Field: Philadelphia
- Levi's Stadium: Santa Clara, California
- Lumen Field: Seattle
FIFA noted in the past that the decision on host cities would take into account things such as general infrastructure, financial impact and sustainability.
The 2026 World Cup will be the first 48-team World Cup in history. It will mark just the second time the United States will serve as the host country. Mexico has already hosted the tournament twice (1970, 1986) and Canada has never hosted it.