The final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup will take place on Sunday, July 19, 2026. The MetLife Stadium in New York/New Jersey is the intended stadium and host city for the final match of the 2026 FIFA men’s soccer World Cup in North America. The World Cup football in North America has three hosts: the USA, Canada, and Mexico. Their United 2026 Bid has been awarded at the 68th FIFA Congress in Moscow, on June 13, 2018, beating out Morocco (134 to 65 votes). The 2026 World Cup final is therefore expected to take place at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, just outside New York City, according to the United 2026 bid.
UPDATE / CONFIRMATION FEBRUARY 4, 2024:
2026 FIFA WORLD CUP FOOTBALL FINAL:
SUNDAY, JULY 19, 2026 IN NEW YORK / NEW JERSEY, METLIFE STADIUM
The 2026 World Cup final stadium is home of the New York Giants and New York Jets, both playing in the National Football League (NFL). New Jersey has hosted matches at the 1994 World Cup Football as well, being played in the (former) Old Giants Stadium.
This information is subject to final decisions. The BID United puts New York forward with the MetLife Stadium as the main contender to host the World Cup final. But also the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and the AT&T Stadium in Dallas are mentioned. The official allocation by FIFA and the organizing committee is yet to follow. More info about the locations? See: 2026 World Cup stadiums (U.S., Canada, and Mexico).
2026 World Cup final stadium
The new, current MetLife Stadium has been constructed in 2010 and is situated at the Meadowlands complex, a sports complex including ultramodern facilities and amenities, among which hundreds of hotels. This base situated in East Rutherford, New Jersey, is also known as the MetLife Sports Complex; including the MetLife Stadium. The MetLife Stadium has a 82,500 capacity and is a 30 minute drive from Manhattan.
2026 World Cup final: when? Sunday, July 19, 2026
The date of when the final will be held, is Sunday, July 19, 2026, as has been announced in March 14, 2023. More information about the World Cup final, most probably in host city New York, will be available here as soon as it is confirmed.
World Cup soccer: more stadium and location info
The World Cup final location might be the MetLife Stadium in New York / New Jersey, as mentioned. Besides the World Cup soccer final, the U.S. will also host all games at this 2026 FIFA tournament starting from the quarterfinals.
Out of the 80 games at the schedule of the final round, Mexico and Canada will have 10 games each; 60 games will be played at U.S. ground. Except from the 4 quarterfinals, 2 semifinals, the third-place battle and the final, also 34 matches in the group stage, 12 in the round of 32 and 6 in the round of 16 will have the USA as their host. In the BID, it has been proposed that 7 group matches, 2 round of 32 and one round of 16 will take place in both Canada and Mexico.
Note, March 14, 2023: due to the change of format from sixteen pools of three to twelve pools of four, the original match division of the host nations will be changed. Now a total of 104 matches have to be distributed.
UPDATE MARCH 14, 2023: 12 GROUPS OF FOUR
UPDATE: FIFA has announced on Tuesday 14 March 2023 that the 2026 FIFA World Cup will start with twelve groups of four. The opening match is on Sunday, May 31, 2026. The final of the World Cup is on Sunday, July 19, 2026. The knockout phase starts with the sixteenth finals. This means that a total of 104 matches are scheduled for the World Cup in North America. The tournament in the three host countries, United States, Mexico and Canada, lasts 40 game days.
From the group stage, the numbers one, numbers two and the eight best numbers three advance to the next round, the sixteenth finals.
FIFA announced this schedule change at the FIFA Council, Tuesday, March 14, 2023, in Kigali, Rwanda. During that meeting, the international match calendars were approved.
The original plan for sixteen groups of three countries for the World Cup in North America has therefore been cancelled.
The World Cup has 48 countries for the first time. During the previous World Cup, in 2022, there were 32 teams. They were then equally divided into eight groups. The World Cup in Qatar lasted 29 days, eleven days less than the 40 match days during the upcoming event in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Further on this page and website you will find the original information. However, as mentioned, the plans for the format have now been changed from sixteen groups of three into to twelve groups of four.
UPDATE:
2026 WORLD CUP HOST CITIES
AS ANNOUNCED ON JUNE 16, 2022:
Western Region:
• Vancouver (BC Place Stadium)
• Seattle (Lumen Field)
• San Francisco Bay Area (Levi’s Stadium)
• Los Angeles Inglewood (SoFi Stadium)
• Guadalajara (Estadio Akron)
Central Region:
• Kansas City (Arrowhead Stadium)
• Dallas (AT&T Stadium)
• Atlanta (Mercedes-Benz Stadium)
• Houston (NRG Stadium)
• Monterrey (BBVA Bancomer Stadium)
• Mexico City (Azteca Stadium)
Eastern Region:
• Toronto (BMO Field)
• Boston (Gillette Stadium)
• Philadelphia (Lincoln Financial Field)
• Miami (Hard Rock Stadium)
• New York/New Jersey (MetLife Stadium)
