KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The 2026 World Cup host cities are officially set.
After years of meetings, visits, waiting and suspense, on Thursday, FIFA announced the 16 North American cities that will host the 2026 men’s tournament.
Every four years, millions of soccer fans travel and tune in to cheer on their favorite national teams as they battle to lift the coveted FIFA World Cup Trophy.
In 2026, it will be the first time in the history of the tournament that three nations will host matches and the first time the field of qualified nations will expand to 48.
FIFA selected the US-Mexico-Canada joint bid in 2018, beating out Morocco.
The last time World Cup matches were played in the United States was in 1994 when fans attended matches across nine cities. Mexico last hosted the tournament in 1986 and will now be the first country to host three men’s World Cups. This will be the first time Canada hosts the World Cup.
In all, 11 U.S. cities made the cut, plus three cities in Mexico and two cities in Canada; all 16 hosts cities will split matches.
Host cities
United States
- Atlanta
- Boston
- Dallas
- Houston
- Kansas City
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- New York/New Jersey
- Philadelphia
- San Francisco/Bay Area
- Seattle
Mexico
- Guadalajara
- Mexico City
- Monterrey
Canada
- Toronto
- Vancouver
Missing the cut
Unfortunately, several finalists weren’t named host cities on Thursday.
Reports last week already indicated that Edmonton, Canada, was out as an option, and that was confirmed Thursday.
In the United States, five cities were not selected: Baltimore/Washington D.C., Cincinnati, Denver, Nashville and Orlando.
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. Leaders will have 4 years to update stadiums, infrastructure and fan experiences ahead of 2026.
As for the national teams, they’ll begin qualifying once the 2022 edition of the tournament in Qatar concludes in December.
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