2026 World Cup Host Cities: Los Angeles and New York/NJ are among the top venues; Ignore Washington, DC

New York The 2026 World Cup host cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico were revealed on Thursday in New York City. The 2026 edition of the biggest tournament ever will be in a new 48-team format with 80 matches, which means we will be dealing with 16 more teams and 16 more matches than the current format. This will be the first time that three countries have come together to host a tournament, and Mexico will be the first country to hold three different Men’s World Cup tournaments. As a result, 16 places were selected in the three countries divided into three regional centers: Western, Central and Eastern.

The last time the United States hosted the men’s World Cup was in 1994, and Brazil won that tournament after defeating the American Novices in the round of 16. That World Cup still holds the record as the most attended World Cup with 3.6 million spectators. But that record will surely be shattered in 2026 as fans enter revolving doors in three countries.

The US had 11 stadiums total, with Mexico getting three, while Canada got two. It remains to be seen where the tournament will open and close and how many matches each venue will have, although The initial bid was submitted four years ago The quarter-final matches through to the final (then suggested at MetLife Stadium) were all played on US soil, with some Mexico and Canada matches going into the group stage and possibly the round of 16 matches.

Obviously, things can change now and then, so in the meantime, here are the cities and stadiums selected from the announcement:

Eastern Province

• Toronto, Canada – BMO Stadium
• Boston, MA – Gillette Stadium
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Lincoln Financial Field
• Miami, Florida – Hard Rock Stadium
• New York / New Jersey – MetLife Stadium

Central Region

• Dallas, Texas – AT&T Stadium
• Atlanta, Georgia – Mercedes-Benz Stadium
• Kansas City, Missouri – Arrowhead Stadium
• Houston, Texas – NRG Stadium
• Monterrey, Mexico – Estadio BBVA
• Mexico City, Mexico – Azteca Stadium

Western Region

• Vancouver, Canada – BC Place
• Seattle, Washington – Lumen Field
• Los Angeles, CA – SoFi Stadium
• San Francisco, CA – Levi’s Stadium
• Guadalajara, Mexico – Akron Stadium

With the Washington DC/Baltimore area and Ottawa missing out, Mexico City is the only capital of the three to host at least one game. Bonn at the 1974 World Cup Finals in West Germany and Tokyo at the 2002 Championships in Japan were the only other instances where a capital was overlooked. Given that the offer has been revised in recent months as a joint bid with Baltimore due to the state of FedEx Field (Who needs a serious renovation?), logistics and Dan Snyder’s involvement in the bidding had to play a role. Snyder refused to testify at the US House of Representatives committee hearing scheduled for June 22 Addressing behavioral concerns in the workplace About the Washington Kinders franchise. Depending on how things go, FIFA won’t want to get in the water.

As for the cities that were not selected, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and FIFA President for Tournaments and Events Colin Smith stated that they would not be taken off the radar when it came to sub-events created around the tournament. Infantino hinted at the capital’s fan festival about the actual matches, and with such a big World Cup, everything from fan interaction to friendlies will be on the table to make this continental party a real one.

With so many US football stadiums configured, some changes will need to be made to expand some fields and add turf in other areas as well. Smith does not expect these issues to significantly affect the current capacity of these stadiums. A final decision will be made in due course. It’s worth noting that SoFi Field was specifically mentioned in Los Angeles, so would that leave the Rose Bowl – which has already hosted both the men’s and women’s World Cups – out of the race?