The 16 cities of the first FIFA World Cup spread across three nations were revealed on Thursday, while FIFA president Gianni Infantino made a bold statement summing up the goal of the 2026 tournament, to be played largely in the US.
“By 2026, soccer — or futbol — will be the No. 1 sport in this part of the world,” Infantino said.
About four years before soccer’s showcase is to arrive in the US, Mexico and Canada, there were already winners and losers: Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Philadelphia, Seattle and Kansas City were among the cities picked after missing out on hosting the 1994 tournament, while Baltimore, Cincinnati, Denver, Nashville, Tennessee and Orlando missed the cut.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Eleven US stadiums were taken, all from the NFL.
Arlington, Texas; East Rutherford, New Jersey; Foxborough, Massachusetts; and Inglewood and Santa Clara, California, were holdover areas from the 1994 tournament that boosted soccer’s prominence in the US.
Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, which hosted the 1970 and 1986 finals, is to become the first stadium in three World Cups, selected along with Guadalajara’s Estadio Akron and Monterrey’s Estadio BBVA.
Photo: AP
Toronto’s BMO Field and BC Place in Vancouver were picked for Canada’s first time hosting, while the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, was dropped.
Following the withdrawal of outmoded FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, Baltimore’s omission means this will be a rare World Cup with no matches in the vicinity of a host’s capital.
“You can’t imagine a World Cup coming to the US, the capital city not taking a major role,” said Colin Smith, FIFA’s chief competitions and events officer.
Infantino promised a fan fest on Washington’s National Mall, and locations across the three nations are in play for training sites.
“The story is always who doesn’t get chosen,” US Soccer Federation president Cindy Parlow Cone said.
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