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NEW YORK – The 16 cities of the first World Cup, spread across three nations, have been announced and FIFA President Gianni Infantino made a bold statement, summarizing the goal of the 2026 tournament, to be largely played in the United States.
“By 2026, soccer – or futbol – will be the #1 sport in this part of the world,” he announced.
About four years before soccer’s showcase hits the United States, Mexico and Canada, there were already winners and losers as of Thursday: Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Philadelphia, Seattle and Kansas City, Missouri were among the cities chosen to after missing out on hosting the 1994 tournament.
Baltimore, Cincinnati, Denver, Nashville, Tennessee and Orlando, Florida missed the cut.
Eleven US stadiums were selected, all by the NFL. Arlington, Texas; East Rutherford, NJ; Foxborough, Massachusetts, and Inglewood and Santa Clara, California were holdovers from the 1994 tournament that enhanced football’s American importance.
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Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, which hosted the finals in 1970 and 1986, will be the first stadium in three World Cups to be selected along with Estadio Akron in Guadalajara and Estadio BBVA in Monterrey.
BMO Field in Toronto and BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia were chosen while Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta was dropped.
Following the retirement of the outdated FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, Baltimore’s elimination means this will be the first non-game World Cup to be held near a host’s capital.
“You can’t imagine a World Cup coming to the United States without the capital playing a major role,” said Colin Smith, FIFA’s head of competitions and events.
Infantino promised a fan fest at Washington’s National Mall, and locations across the three nations are in play as training venues.
“The story is always who doesn’t get selected,” said Cindy Parlow Cone, president of the US Soccer Association.
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Infantino’s goal of reaching the top of US esports seems pretty far-fetched. The NFL averaged 17.1 million television and digital viewers during its 2021 season, while the 2018 World Cup averaged 5.04 million on English- and Spanish-language US television.
“You lead the world in many areas,” Infantino said of North America, “the goal must be that you also lead the world in world No. 1 sport.”
“I know it was giggles and laughter,” said Football Canada President Victor Montagliani. “He wasn’t joking.”
Infantino defended FIFA’s financial demands on candidate cities and states, which included sales tax exemptions. He said World Cup revenue supports FIFA’s 211 members and 75% would not be able to keep running without the money.
“This is definitely a fair compromise that takes into account the interests of the sport and the interests of the host countries,” he said.
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The 1994 tournament set records with 3.59 million visitors and an average of 68,991. US stadium capacities for 2026 are all 60,000 and up.
“I think this part of the world doesn’t realize what’s going to happen here in 2026,” Infantino said. “These three countries will be upside down. The world will invade Canada, Mexico and the United States.”
The bidding schedule called for 60 games in the United States, including all quarterfinals and later, and 10 each in Mexico and Canada.
Specific locations for each round will be announced later, and Infantino said global television times will be a factor in the finals, making Eastern and Central time zones more likely. FIFA has gradually moved the final kick-off time for this year’s tournament, which takes place in Beijing at 10:00 p.m. EDT, from 3:30 p.m. EDT to 10:00 a.m. EDT.
The US selection did not include any of the nine stadiums used in 1994. The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and Camping World Stadium in Orlando were the only ones remaining in contention, and they were among the sites that were dropped in negotiations with stadiums and cities and continued until shortly before the announcement.
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New stadiums were selected in five areas used in 1994. AT&T Stadium in Texas replaced Dallas’ Cotton Bowl, SoFi Stadium in Inglewood took over the Rose Bowl and Levi’s Stadium in place of Stanford Stadium.
Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts replaced adjacent demolished stadiums Giants Stadium and Foxboro Stadium.
Three venues in the US have retractable roofs and Atlanta has a fixed roof. All US stadiums except Miami and Kansas City opened in 2002 or later.
Venues have a wider choice of expensive seating than they did in 1994 — the bid book listed a total of 3,757 luxury suites and 76,317 club seats, even before the opening of SoFi, which hosted this year’s Super Bowl.
Eight of the 11 US stadiums have artificial turf and have promised to install temporary turf. Dietmar Exler, chief operating officer of AMB Sports & Entertainment, whose NFL Falcons and Major League Soccer teams play at Mercedes-Benz, said growing lights are used.
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“We will be looking very carefully with FIFA at how to deal with this and making sure we have the best natural grass available,” he said. “This is one of the high priority areas that we need to focus on.”
Some venues, notably SoFi, currently cannot accommodate a 68 x 105 meters (75 x 115 yards) field and would need refurbishment to remove seats near the sidelines. FIFA made similar demands before 1994 but backed out and allowed some tighter finishes.
“We need to remove some of the bottlenecks,” Smith said. “It has no significant aspect in terms of capacity.”
The Detroit area, which hosted games at the old Pontiac Silverdome, was dropped in 2018, and Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium was the contender for the capital area after FedEx Field withdrew in April. RFK Stadium in Washington was used in 1994.
Chicago, which hosted the inaugural game at Solider Field in 1994, refused to make an offer, citing FIFA’s demands.
In contrast to the 1992 location announcement during a press conference, the 2026 announcement was made during a broadcast broadcast from Fox’s Manhattan studio.
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“It’s grown so much in my life,” said US star Christian Pulisic, “and I hope it can even take that next step.”
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