Football: Host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup selected

On Thursday, the world soccer governing body FIFA announced the 16 cities - 11 in the United States, three in Mexico and two in Canada - that were selected to host the 2026 World Cup.

The United States, which staged the tournament in 1994, will host games in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami and New York/New Jersey.

Mexico, who hosted the World Cup in 1970 and 1986, will stage matches in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey, while Canada, which is staging the men’s event for the first time, will do so in Vancouver and Toronto.

Your #FIFAWorldCup 2026 Host Cities:

🇺🇸Atlanta
🇺🇸Boston
🇺🇸Dallas
🇲🇽Guadalajara
🇺🇸Houston
🇺🇸Kansas City
🇺🇸Los Angeles
🇲🇽Mexico City
🇺🇸Miami
🇲🇽Monterrey
🇺🇸New York / New Jersey
🇺🇸Philadelphia
🇺🇸San Francisco Bay Area
🇺🇸Seattle
🇨🇦Toronto
🇨🇦Vancouver

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 16, 2022

There was no indication where the opening game or the final would be played.

Biggest sport in North America

FIFA president Gianni Infantino says he expects soccer to be the biggest sport in North America in time for the 2026 World Cup.

“By 2026 soccer or football will be the number one sport in this part of the world,” Infantino boldly predicted as fans in the newly-appointed host cities celebrated.

“It was the most competitive process for a FIFA World Cup, we'll have the world coming here, we'll have an exciting tournament,” the president of FIFA added.

He also pointed out that “there are still some discussions to go on and we will certainly choose the best cities there as well for the opening and the final, but every match will be a final in this World Cup”.

2022 World cup

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is set to be held in Qatar from November 21 to December 18.

The Polish national football team have been drawn to play Mexico in their opening match in Qatar on November 22. Four days later, they will take on Saudi Arabia before playing Argentina on November 30.