2026 World Cup Host Cities

FIFA 2026 World Cup Football Host Cities — Pro Shots / SIPA

2026 World Cup cities: the World Cup in North America will have sixteen host cities – and just as many stadiums. Which cities will host the 2026 World Cup? There are 16 Host Cities: 11 in the United States, 2 in Canada, and 3 in Mexico. On the 16th of June 2022, a number of 22 remained Candidate Host Cities has been reduced to the number of sixteen final locations.

The sixteen 2026 World Cup cities will host 80 104 matches. According to the original BID, 60 games would have a U.S. city as a host (among which the final in New York / New Jersey), 10 would have a Canadian city as a host, and also 10 would be played in an Mexican city. However, this schedule is still subject to change. Update 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.

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)

2026 World Cup host cities

Originally, 45 cities in the USA, Canada and Mexico competed to become a Candidate Host City, since the United 2026 Bid had been awarded at the 68th FIFA Congress in Moscow, on June 13, 2018. While 22 host cities remained to the date of the final announcement on 16 June, 2022, only 16 will host (part of) the visiting country teams in the summer of 2026.

Which match(es) in which host city?

The total number of 80 104 matches will be divided into ~~60 matches in the United States, 10 matches in Canada and 10 matches in Mexico~~, at least, according to United Bid’s plan.

To the best of our knowledge, the description of the host city already lists in which round of the schedule one or more matches are scheduled. According to the United Bid, the final has been allocated to New York/New Jersey (MetLife Stadium). The opening match will be held in Los Angeles or Mexico City, and the semifinals will be in host cities Atlanta and Dallas. For more information about the stadiums, see: 2026 World Cup stadiums.

Qualified Host Cities

Each host city has its own characteristics: the city’s ambience, its history, attractions and tourist hotspots, the makeup of the population and the number of inhabitants, the climate, the location, and even the time zone. The country in which the city is located also largely determines its appeal and characteristics. Important similarities are, among other things, the strong sports background of the 2026 World Cup host cities and well-organized infrastructure.

Host Cities World Cup Football 2026

The characteristics of each host city in terms of geography, culture, sports and other characteristics are all described on these pages. The list of match locations is divided by country: the United States, Canada and Mexico, and also by region: Western, Central and Eastern.

Division of 2026 World Cup games | country and city

The host countries, the United States, Canada and Mexico, are expected to have a combined population of approximately 550 million by 2026. The matches will be distributed as fairly as possible between east and west, north and south, both in the group stage and the knockout stage.

High Quality Stadiums

Since the bid was chosen to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a further host city evaluation and selection process was required. All proposed stadiums were already fully operational; there has been no need for new stadiums to be built. Although it is good to state that the Los Angeles SoFi Stadium has been completed only in 2020.

Six of the former candidate stadiums however would need renovation, the 2026 Bid stated. The Bid also stated that eleven of the proposed stadiums have or had artificial pitches, which will be replaced by natural grass. Overall, the United 2026 bid was recognized for presenting existing, moreover high quality stadiums.

USA Cities

Canada Cities

Mexico Cities