FedEx Field backs out as 2026 World Cup site

Article posted by Coliseum, April 27^th, 2022

Image: FedEx Field

The 82,000-capacity FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland (US), dropped out of bidding on April 21^st to host games at the 2026 World Cup, and the Washington area merged its campaign with Baltimore’s 71,008-capacity M&T Bank Stadium.

The ‘Bloomberg’ stated that the joint bid would have a fan festival on the District of Columbia’s National Mall (US).

The 2026 FIFA World Cup™ will be the 23^rd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men’s soccer/football championship contested by the national teams of the member-associations of FIFA. The tournament will be jointly hosted by 16 Cities in three North American countries. Sixty matches, including the quarterfinals, semi-finals, and the final, will be hosted by the United States while neighboring Canada and Mexico will each host 10 matches. The tournament will be the first hosted by three nations. This tournament will be the first to include 48 teams, expanded from 32.

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The FedEx Field, opened in 1997, was among the older facilities that initially bid in 2017. It hosted matches during the 1999 Women’s World Cup. Washington, D.C.’s 45,596-capacity RFK Stadium was the site of matches during the 1994 men’s World Cup and is slated for demolition.

Seventeen US stadiums in 16 areas remain in the bidding for the World Cup, with the Los Angeles area submitting both the 70,000-capacity SoFi Stadium in Inglewood and the 90,888-capacity Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena (California), site of the 1994 World Cup final.

The ‘Bloomberg’ further stated that three Cities each in Canada and Mexico are bidding. The bid plan envisioned 16 total sites for the tournament. FIFA targeted mid-May for announcing site selections, but that has pushed that back until at least mid-June.

The 2026 World Cup will be the first with 48 nations and the first with three co-hosts. FIFA selected the bid as joint host in June 2018.

Sixty games are to be played in the US, including all from the quarterfinals on. Canada and Mexico are to host 10 games each.

The remaining arenas and stadiums:

United States

Arlington, Texas, 80,000-capacity AT&T Stadium;
Atlanta, 71,000-capacity Mercedes-Benz Stadium;
Baltimore, M&T Bank Stadium;
Cincinnati, 65,535-capacity Paul Brown Stadium;
Denver, 76,125-capacity Empower Field at Mile High;
East Rutherford, New Jersey, 82,500-capacity MetLife Stadium;
Foxborough, Massachusetts, 65,878-capacity Gillette Stadium;
Houston, 72,220-capacity NRG Stadium; Inglewood, California, SoFi Stadium;
Kansas City, Missouri, 76,416-capacity Arrowhead Stadium;
Miami Gardens, Florida, 65,326-capacity Hard Rock Stadium;
Nashville, Tennessee, 69,143-capacity Nissan Stadium;
Orlando, Florida, 65,000-capacity Camping World Stadium;
Pasadena, California, Rose Bowl Stadium; Philadelphia, 67,594-capacity Lincoln Financial Field;
Santa Clara, California, 68,500-capacity Levi’s Stadium; and
Seattle, 72,000-capacity Lumen Field.

Canada

Edmonton, Alberta, 60,081-capacity Commonwealth Stadium;
Toronto, 27,456 BMO Field; and
Vancouver, British Columbia, 54,500-capacity BC Place.

Mexico

Zapopan, 46,355-capacity Akron Stadium;
Mexico City, 87,523-capacity Aztec Stadium; and
Monterrey, 51,000-capacity Estadio BBVA.

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