FIFA announce 16 host cities for 2026 World Cup, eight are hosting for the first time

Photo Credit: FIFA

By Rubén Morales Iglesias: FIFA announced the 16 host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Thursday. Eleven of the cities selected are in the United States, three in Mexico, and two in Canada.

The 2026 World Cup will be the first to be hosted by three countries and the first to feature 48 teams.

The host cities selected are Atlanta (Georgia), Boston (Massachusetts), Dallas (Texas), Houston (Texas), Kansas City (Missouri), Los Angeles (California), Miami (Florida), New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), San Francisco Bay Area (California) and Seattle (Washington) in the United States; Guadalajara (Jalisco), Monterrey (Nuevo Leon), and Mexico City, in Mexico; and Toronto (Ontario) and Vancouver (British Columbia) in Canada.

Mexico is hosting a World Cup for a record third time, the Unites States are going for their second, and for Canada, it’s the first experience.

Of the 16 host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, eight have already hosted World Cup games, though only two stadiums previously used are repeat venues.

The best known of all the venues is Estadio Azteca in Mexico City which hosted the opening and final games of both the 1970 and 1986 World Cups when Brazil led by Pele and Argentina by Maradona won, respectively. In fact, Mexico is the first country to host three World Cups, though this is the first time they are sharing the hosting rights.

Though both Guadalajara and Monterrey have hosted World Cup games before, the Akron Stadium in Guadalajara and the BBVA Stadium in Monterrey are hosting for the first time.

BC Place in Vancouver and the BMO Field in Toronto will be hosts for the first time.

In the United States, five of the nine cities that hosted World Cup games in 1994 will do so again, namely San Francisco, Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York/New Jersey.

However, only one US venue will be used again in 2026. That’s the Gillette Stadium in Boston, Massachusetts, which joins the Estadio Azteca as the only two repeat venues.

In 1994, the Stanford Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area in California hosted five matches. Now the venue in that area will be Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

In Dallas, the AT&T Stadium is the venue selected by FIFA. For USA 1994, the Cotton Bowl was the stadium used.

The New York/New Jersey area will again see World Cup action as in 1994, but now at the MetLife Stadium which replaced the Giants Stadium that was the 1994 venue.

The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California which hosted the 1994 World Cup final gives way to the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles for 2026.

A first-time host is the city of Philadelphia where FIFA has opted for the Lincoln Financial Field Stadium.

The NRG Stadium in Houston, the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas, the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, and the Lumen Field in Seattle complete the fold.

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