FIFA major announcement on 2026 extravaganza

Article posted by Coliseum, May 24^th, 2022

Image: HKS Architects

On June 16^th, FIFA will make a major and highly anticipated announcement related to the staging of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ across Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The ‘FIFA’ stated that 22 candidate Host Cities are currently vying for the right to stage matches for the 48-team tournament hosted by three nations – both firsts for a FIFA World Cup™.

The current candidate Host Cities are: Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Edmonton, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Monterrey, Nashville, New York/New Jersey, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington, D.C./Baltimore.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup™ will be the 23^rd FIFA World Cup™, the quadrennial international men’s association football (soccer) 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, semifinals 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.

Informed FIFA Vice-President and Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) President Victor Montagliani, “In line with the previous stages of the FIFA World Cup™ 2026 selection process, any announcement will be made in the best interests of football, taking into consideration the needs of all stakeholders involved, as we aim to lay the foundations for the tournament to be delivered successfully across all three countries. We can only reiterate our appreciation to all the Cities and the three member-associations for their efforts and dedication to this process.”

The ‘FIFA’ further stated that while stadiums represent an essential element of the selection process, FIFA is considering the overarching proposals presented by each candidate Host City, which are broader in nature and also include ancillary events and venues, and key aspects such as sustainability, human rights, legacy, general infrastructure, and financial impact.

Said FIFA’s Chief Tournaments and Events Officer, Colin Smith, “During the past months we have had open exchanges with the candidate Host Cities on a number of different topics. We are very thankful and impressed by how dedicated and innovative they all are. The Host Cities will be absolutely key to ensuring the successful delivery of the competition. We look forward to working with them to deliver what will undoubtedly be the largest FIFA World Cup™ in history.”

Additional details on the announcement on June 16^th, including the livestream and media arrangements, will follow in due course.

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