Plenty of good stadiums in the US, but they can’t all host.
By now you’ve probably seen the World Cup Bid Committee’s list of potential stadiums for the 2026 World Cup. A total of 49 stadiums in 44 cities are included. While there are all kinds of great places in the three countries to host World Cup games, they can’t all do it. Most likely, a total of 16 stadiums will host the tournament. Three in Canada and Mexico, and 10 in the United States.
So who will get to host? We’re not saying book your travel plans now, but these seem like the most likely. The empahasis will be on reducing travel for teams but still including all the regions fairly. It will be an interesting balance but here is the end result.
Mexico
This is pretty easy. The bid committee has already narrowed the Mexican sites to their three stadiums.
Estadio Azteca – Mexico City
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Of course the site of one of soccer’s most famous moments gets included. Hopefully the stadium gets one of the tournament’s biggest games.
Estadio Chivas – Guadalajara
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One of Liga MX’s finest stadiums should make for a great atmosphere.
Estadio Rayados – Monterrey
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One of Mexico’s newest stadium was a sure bet for hosting games. Over 50,000 will fill the stadium every game.
Canada
Canada has nine stadiums in seven cities listed, including the three MLS stadiums. An important thing to remember is FIFA requires World Cup stadiums to have a capacity of at least 40,000. Now there is plenty of time between now and 2026 to build and upgrade, and that will likely happen in Canada.
BMO Field – Toronto
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The stadium will need to add seats, but they have done so in the past and there is plenty of room for temporary seats to get them above the 40,000 mark. This option would be much better than the indoor alternative.
Stade Olympique – Montreal
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The stadium will need some work before 2026, but it’s the better option over Stade Saputo next door.
BC Place – Vancouver
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A previous host to the Olympics and the Women’s World Cup Final, adding the Men’s World Cup to this stadium is an obvious choice.
United States
Here is where the fun begins. I chose these 10 stadiums so the 16 sites could be evenly divided into 4 groups for teams in the group stages to minimize travel.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium – Atlanta
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This stadium is too insanely gorgeous to not include.
Soldier Field – Chicago
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Soldier Field continues to add to it’s list of historic soccer games hosted.
AT&T Stadium – Dallas (Arlington)
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This monster of a stadium has always wanted a World Cup game. This one is darn near a guarentee.
Arrowhead Stadium – Kansas City
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This one may be a surprise but it’s one of the loudest stadiums in the world and Kansas City loves their soccer. Give them some games.
New LA Stadium – Los Angeles
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There are plenty of great stadium options in LA, but the newest one should be the ideal host.
Hard Rock Stadium – Miami
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Hosting El Clasico was a huge success. Plus the World Cup is about tourism and fans will flock to Miami.
MetLife Stadium – New York City
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After hosting the Copa America Final could they also get the World Cup Final?
Lincoln Financial Field – Philadelphia
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Philadelphia gets a stadium over the nation’s capitol solely due to the stadium situation.
University of Phoenix Stadium – Phoenix
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Located in a good spot so teams can travel west or to Mexico. Plus it’s hosted its fair share of big soccer games.
CenturyLink Field – Seattle
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The Pacific Northwest in the U.S. supports soccer too much to not get a host. This is the best place to catch a game.
The four group stage clusters are as follows…
- Vancouver/Seattle/LA/Phoenix
- Dallas/Guadalajara/Mexico City/Monterrey
- Miami/Atlanta/Kansas City/Chicago
- Philadelphia/NYC/Toronto/Montreal
It’s not perfect, especially in the third group, but its a good spread for the fans with out killing the players who are playing games in such short succession. For the opening matches and Final, Los Angeles, New York and Mexico City are the most likely destinations.