NEW YORK — Host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico were announced in New York on Thursday. The 2026 edition of the tournament will be the biggest ever with a new 48-team format featuring 80 games, which means we will be entitled to 16 more teams and 16 more games than the current format. It will be the first time that three countries have joined forces to host a tournament, and Mexico will be the first country to have three different men’s World Cups on its soil. As a result, 16 sites were selected in the three countries divided into three regional hubs: West, Center and East.

The United States last hosted the Men’s World Cup in 1994 and Brazil won the tournament after knocking out the Americans who reached the Round of 16. This World Cup still holds the record for the most watched World Cup with 3.6 million fans attending matches. But that record is sure to be broken in 2026 with fans entering turnstiles in three countries.

The United States has 11 sites in total, with Mexico getting three and Canada getting two. It remains to be seen where the tournament will open and end and how many matches each site will get, although the initial offer made four years ago the quarterfinals through the final (then offered at MetLife Stadium) were all played on American soil, with Mexico and Canada having group stage matches and possibly a round of 16.

Things can obviously change by then, so in the meantime, here are the selected cities and stadiums from the announcement:

Eastern Region

• Toronto, Canada — BMO Land
• Boston, MA – Gillette Stadium
• Philadelphia, PA – Lincoln Financial Field
• Miami, Florida – Hard Rock Stadium
• New York/New Jersey — MetLife Stadium

Central region

• Dallas, TX – AT&T Stadium
• Atlanta, Georgia — Mercedes Benz-Stadium
• Kansas City, Missouri – Arrowhead Stadium
• Houston, TX – NRG Stadium
• Monterrey, Mexico — BBVA Stadium
• Mexico City, Mexico — Estadio Azteca

West Region

• Vancouver, Canada — BC Place
• Seattle, Washington — Lumen Field
• Los Angeles, CA – SoFi Stadium
• San Francisco, CA – Levi’s Stadium
• Guadalajara, Mexico — Estadio Akron

With the Washington DC/Baltimore and Ottawa region absent, Mexico City is the only capital of the three to host at least one game. Bonn at the 1974 World Cup in West Germany and Tokyo at the 2002 tournament in Japan were the only other instances where a capital was snubbed. Since the offer has changed in recent months as a joint offer with Baltimore due to the condition of FedEx Field (which needs serious renovations), logistics and Dan Snyder’s involvement in the bid must have played a role. Snyder declined to testify at the US House committee hearing scheduled for June 22. The audience is resolve workplace conduct issues around the Washington Commanders franchise. The way things are going, FIFA doesn’t want to be in the water.

For the cities that were not chosen, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and FIFA Tournaments and Events Manager Colin Smith mentioned that they would not be left behind when it comes to side events built around the tournament. Infantino hinted at a DC fan fest around the actual games, and with such a big World Cup, everything from fan engagement to tune-up friendlies will be on the table to make it a real party. continental.

With so many stadiums set up for American Football, some changes will need to be made to widen some of the pitches and add grass in other areas as well. Smith does not expect these issues to have a significant impact on the current capacity of these stadiums. A decision on the final will be made in due course. It should be noted that SoFi Field was specifically mentioned for Los Angeles, so would that leave the Rose Bowl – which has previously hosted the Men’s and Women’s World Cup Finals – out of the running?