The World Cup is coming back to North America in 2026 and that is great news for Florida soccer fans. FIFA made the announcement this morning in Moscow this morning on the eve of the World Cup 2018 that gets underway tomorrow.
A joint bid from Canada, Mexico and the United States beat out Morocco to claim the 2026 hosting role. This was seen by many as a consolation prize to the United States after the embracement of the U.S. Men’s National Team failing to qualify to make to Moscow.
As you might expect top United States soccer officials were very pleased. “Thank you for the incredible privilege,” U.S. Soccer President Carlos Cordeiro told the FIFA members in a short speech after the vote, adding, “Football today is the only victor.”
Canada and Mexico joining the United States in hosting 80 games, as of now it looks like the U.S. will be home to 60 games Both Orlando and Miami are expected to be game sites in 2026 with the World Cup final likely to be played in New Jersey at MetLife Stadium, but Dallas, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. remain as possible sites for the title match.
At this moment the list of cities in the U.S. with a strong chance of hosting games are Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York/New Jersey, Orlando, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and Washington.
Heading north to Canada likely sites include, Edmonton, Montreal and Toronto, while the Mexican potential host cities are Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey.
The key for each city on the list is to present what their perspective stadiums will look like in 2026. Each city named above made it through three cuts based on their commitment on having a World Cup worthy site eight years from today.
The North American bid was won on the strength that there would be 23 stadiums already built, as is most of the infrastructure the expanded 48-team tournament will need: training sites, hotels, airports, rail lines.