KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City’s World Cup dreams have come true. FIFA announced the KC 2026 World Cup bid was selected, and Kansas City will be one of 16 host cities for the North American games.
The selection was announced in front of a raucous crowd in the Kansas City Power and Light District, and it makes KC one of 11 cities in the United States to host. Mexico will have three host cities, and Canada will have two.
Here’s the full list of host cities:
United States
- Seattle
- San Francisco
- Los Angeles
- KANSAS CITY
- Dallas
- Atlanta
- Houston
- Boston
- Philadelphia
- Miami
- New York/New Jersey
Mexico
- Guadalajara
- Monterrey
- Mexico City
Canada
- Vancouver
- Toronto
How did we get here?
For years, the Kansas City Sports Commission teamed up with Sporting Kansas City, the Kansas City Current and many more organizations to submit a bid to FIFA to bring the World Cup to the Soccer Capital of America.
The last time World Cup matches were played in the United States was in 1994 when an average of 69,174 fans attended matches across nine cities.
The soccer landscape in the United States has grown exponentially since 1994 with the introduction of Major League Soccer in 1996. The then-Kansas City Wiz were one of the founding members of the league.
What’s next?
There is a lot of work that needs to be done between now and summer 2026.
Host cities will begin planning and development to host fans from across the world and national teams will begin qualifying once the 2022 edition in of the tournament in Qatar concludes in December.
FOX Sports is the home for World Cup coverage for the 2022 games in Qatar, and the 2026 games in North America.
