World Cup 2026: Check If Your City in US, Mexico and Canada Will Be Hosting the FIFA World Cup!

The World Cup in 2026 promises to be bigger than ever, with 48 countries participating in the tournament. This is an increase from the previous 32 participating countries. The United States, Mexico, and Canada will be co-hosting, with games being held across 16 cities in these three countries.

According to FIFA's Twitter account, eleven US cities will be hosting, including Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Seattle. Meanwhile, Mexico will have three host cities: Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Mexico City. Finally, Canada's two host cities are Toronto and Vancouver. FIFA will be announcing the specific locations for the opening ceremony, final match, and specific matches in the future.

So far, the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey has been proposed as the venue for the final match, while Dallas and Atlanta have been proposed as the hosts for the semi-final matches.

US, Mexico, Canada Promise World-class Stadiums

The three countries have defeated Morocco's bid to secure the World Cup 2026 hosting duties. They ran with the motto "Unity. Certainty. Opportunity." and argued that running the games there will earn the organization more financial opportunities. The bid also highlighted that North America is home to plenty of large-capacity stadiums, many of which cater to NFL and MLS games in the U.S., as well as CFL games in Canada and Liga MX games in Mexico.

While there is still no final venue on where they will be holding the final matches, NPR has reported that Los Angeles and Mexico will likely host the "main" opening match. This is because both cities have hosted the final matches for previous World Cup tournaments. The United States previously hosted the World Cup in 1994, while Mexico hosted it twice, in 1970 and 1986.

The World Cup itself also hosts world leaders, and the bid touted that these North American stadiums are ideal venues to host foreign dignitaries and politicians, as well as other VIPs, including premium ticket holders.

FIFA is exploring opportunities for six cities snubbed for World Cup 2026. While 16 cities have been announced for hosting duties, several candidates have also not been selected from the initial list of candidate cities.

For the United States, these include Cincinnati, Denver, Nashville, Orlando, and Baltimore. Meanwhile, Edmonton in Alberta, Canada was also snubbed. As for Mexico, no Mexican city was passed over by soccer's governing body in the selection.

But while these six cities have not been selected, FIFA is still looking to partner up with them. FIFA Vice President and Concacaf President Victor Montagliani stated that they are still exploring ways to continue engagement within these cities, as well as ways to welcome and accommodate fans and teams there. Montagliani also stated that the selection process for the final 16 cities was "unparalleled" in its competitiveness.

FIFA's official website called the bidding process for these cities "the most transparent and comprehensive bidding process in football history." They stated that they based the decision on the best interest of the game and also considered stakeholder needs as well.

This year, Qatar will be hosting the World Cup from November 21 until December 18. US, Canada, and Mexico will then be taking over the hosting duties in 2026.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Rick Martin