World Cup '26 Cities Announced

[Chuck]

MetLife and Gillette got games.

But from my quick read, it looks like some cities dropped out before being rejected. It looks like (or it's implied) that FIFA wants payouts from the country host, and then separately from the cities in that country? I guess if you've got the product, you get to dictate the terms. But it's FIFA so I assume some of that money was under the table. Maybe they'll send the US team to a Canada or Mexico pod.

16 cities chosen to host World Cup 2026 matches

FIFA has announced the venues that will host matches during the 2026 World Cup in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

www.espn.com

 

[Sleepy]

Funny that Canada only got two cities, Vancouver and Toronto; I thought they were supposed to get 3 like Mexico?

Looking at the map, there are some pretty huge gaps in the Midwest; I know Chicago dropped out early, but with Denver not making it, there's the West Coast cities of Seattle, SF, and LA (+ Vancouver), then a huge nothing until KC, Dallas, Houston, and then the East Coast with Miami, Atlanta, Philly, NY/NJ, Boston, (+Toronto). I guess they might consider Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Mexico City part of the Midwest group?

 

[LIuconn]

I know SoFi isn’t up to fifa specs. Wonder if fifa will allow narrow fields or if they’ll retro fit the stadium to fit a proper field

 

[ZooCougar]

Funny that Canada only got two cities, Vancouver and Toronto; I thought they were supposed to get 3 like Mexico?

Looking at the map, there are some pretty huge gaps in the Midwest; I know Chicago dropped out early, but with Denver not making it, there's the West Coast cities of Seattle, SF, and LA (+ Vancouver), then a huge nothing until KC, Dallas, Houston, and then the East Coast with Miami, Atlanta, Philly, NY/NJ, Boston, (+Toronto). I guess they might consider Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Mexico City part of the Midwest group?

 

[ZooCougar]

Love how Toronto is East and Atlanta is Central

 

[Chin Diesel]

Love how Toronto is East and Atlanta is Central

Atlanta is west of Toronto.

 

[ZooCougar]

Atlanta is west of Toronto.

And yet it still makes no sense.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Very excited Gillette was chosen. Hoping I can score tickets and they get some interesting matches. I didn't see any games live last time around, was in law school. My colleagues in California talked about how wild it was that the Brazilian fans took over Los Gatos, said it was like a massive outdoor carnival atmosphere.

 

[Chin Diesel]

And yet it still makes no sense.

Says you.

 

[Sleepy]

Atlanta may be west of Toronto, but neither city has ever really been associated with being part of the "Central" or "Midwest" part of the country/continent. Did FIFA just really want a 5-6-5 distribution of cities for East-Central-West for some stupid reason?

On a related note, does Guadalajara really belong in the West, with LA, SF, Seattle, and Vancouver? I've never been to Mexico, I would have thought it would make sense to keep all 3 Mexican host cities in the same region.

 

[LIuconn]

Bunch of international travelers are going to find out how terrible our public transportation infrastructure is very quickly

 

[Chuck]

Bunch of international travelers are going to find out how terrible our public transportation infrastructure is very quickly

I went to World Cup game back in 1994 at Giant Stadium. I was working in NYC at the time. There were a ton of small busses leaving from Port Authority to the Meadowlands. It was relatively smooth and I was on the bus with a bunch of fans and some press. But when we got out of the tunnel there was a ton of traffic (no surprise, it was a rush hour game time) and the bus driver panicked and went the wrong way. I was calmly trying to direct him (as an NJ native), but he refused to listen to me and wound up on the Turnpike South, so we had to fight our way through that traffic (South then North again).

We wound up missing the first half of the game. Some on the bus were apoplectic, especially the poor reporter that was trying to see and report on his team. I can't actually remember who played. I do remember it was a 1-0 final and the only goal came in the first half. They took down our names/addresses, and must have asked us additional questions, because a month or two later I got a check in the mail for the bus fare and all (or some) of the ticket price.

That was a long winded way of i) telling my story, ii) but also remembering that they actually did an ok job jury rigging transportation (as long as you had a competent driver). Now you can get to the meadowlands by train (which can't get lost). Hopefully, they run a lot of trains since sometimes it's a disaster getting out on a train.

 

[ZooCougar]

Says you.

Says anyone. Nobody anywhere considers Atlanta “central”.

 

[ZooCougar]

Atlanta may be west of Toronto, but neither city has ever really been associated with being part of the "Central" or "Midwest" part of the country/continent. Did FIFA just really want a 5-6-5 distribution of cities for East-Central-West for some stupid reason?

On a related note, does Guadalajara really belong in the West, with LA, SF, Seattle, and Vancouver? I've never been to Mexico, I would have thought it would make sense to keep all 3 Mexican host cities in the same region.

Toronto is east as much as Cleveland is. Which is none.

 

[ZooCougar]

Bunch of international travelers are going to find out how terrible our public transportation infrastructure is very quickly

Yeah. But it’s not like they give World Cups to entire continents routinely.

 

[LIuconn]

Stadiums in Europe and Asia are easily accessible via public transportation from city center or airports. Can’t say the same about the USA. Atlanta may be the best setup as of right now

 

[Chin Diesel]

Says anyone. Nobody anywhere considers Atlanta “central”.

Except for those Torontoans up north.

 

[ZooCougar]

Stadiums in Europe and Asia are easily accessible via public transportation from city center or airports. Can’t say the same about the USA. Atlanta may be the best setup as of right now

People from Europe travel to the USA regularly. Particularly since the exchange rate is favorable. Many love the fact that they can easily rent a car, find reasonable parking, not have to pay to use the bathroom, not pay a $1.50 to get some ketchup at a restaurant, a hotel room bigger than the closet I keep my lightbulbs and cleaning supplies in, air conditioning etc. I think they will be fine.

 

[ZooCougar]

Except for those Torontoans up north.

I didn’t realize Ontario had shoreline on the Atlantic.

 

[gtcam]

Stadiums in Europe and Asia are easily accessible via public transportation from city center or airports. Can’t say the same about the USA. Atlanta may be the best setup as of right now

Thats Europe and Asia, not the USA
square peg, round hole

 

[gtcam]

Atlanta is west of Toronto.

Didn't the Braves and the Falcons play in the West Divisions at one time?