With the largest field ever at 48 teams, FIFA announced the 16 cities set to host the 80 matches set for the 2026 FIFA World Cup competition across the United States, Mexico and Canada, as well as host venues.
The competition will take place across three regions:
- West: Vancouver (B.C. Place), Seattle (Lumen Field), San Francisco (Levi’s Stadium), Los Angeles (SoFi Stadium) and Guadalajara (Estadio Akron)
- Central: Kansas City (Arrowhead Stadium), Dallas (AT&T Stadium), Atlanta (Mercedes-Benz Stadium), Houston (NRG Stadium), Monterrey (Estadio BBVA) and Mexico City (Estadio Azteca)
- East: Toronto (BMO Field), Boston (Gillette Stadium), Philadelphia (Lincoln Financial Field), Miami (Hard Rock Stadium) and New York/New Jersey (MetLife Stadium)
Today’s announcement concerned only the host cities: FIFA has not yet not determined a match schedule and cities hosting the finals, which begins July 12.
Five MLS venues made the cut, but they’re not exclusively MLS homes: they also host professional football in the form of the NFL (Seattle, Boston and Atlanta) and CFL (Vancouver and Toronto).
Not making the cut: Cincinnati, Denver, Edmonton, Nashville, Orlando and Washington DC/Baltimore. Of this group, the omission of Washington/Baltimore is the most surprising; bypassing the nation’s capital will raise a few eyebrows, no doubt,
We can look at some of the 2026 FIFA World Cup host cities bids to get an idea of what stadium changes are in order to accommodate FIFA play. In Kansas City and Arrowhead Stadium, the plan would be to remove corner seating to hew to the wider FIFA pitch. There will also be plenty of venues using synthetic turf that will need to see real grass substituted, such as Seattle’s Lumen Field.