Where Will the World Cup Final Be in 2026? FIFA Names Host Cities
This week, FIFA announced that 16 cities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico will host the 2026 World Cup. Where will the World Cup final be in 2026?
June 17 2022, Published 2:35 p.m. ET
The World Cup is coming to America in 2026. This week, FIFA announced that 16 cities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico will host the 2026 World Cup games. Among the cities, 11 are in the U.S., three are in Mexico, and two are in Canada. Where will the World Cup final be in 2026?
No decision has been made yet on which city will get to host the World Cup final, but once the tournament reaches the quarterfinal stage, all remaining games will be held in the U.S., ESPN reports.
The capacity of the stadium will be the primary factor in picking a site for the final, Victor Montagliani with the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football told The New York Times. The decision on a location for the finals will be made in 2023.
The last time the World Cup games were held in the U.S. was in 1994. The final that year was held at Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Calif., just outside of Los Angeles. However, the Rose Bowl wasn't selected as a site for the 2026 tournament.
Here are the 2026 North America World Cup cities.
The process of selecting the 2026 World Cup cities started back in 2017. Interested cities had to provide information on their transportation infrastructure, accommodations, possible training sites, environmental protection initiatives, experience hosting sporting and cultural events, and more. Of 44 potential cities and 49 stadiums, the pool of candidates was eventually narrowed down to 22.
The final 16 cities are separated into three groups representing the East, Central, and West regions. The 11 U.S. cities (and their stadiums) that made the cut are:
Atlanta (Mercedes-Benz Stadium)
Boston (Gillette Stadium)
Dallas (AT&T Stadium)
Houston (NRG Stadium)
Kansas City, Missouri (Arrowhead Stadium)
Los Angeles (SoFi Stadium)
Miami (Hard Rock Stadium)
New York/New Jersey (MetLife Stadium)
Philadelphia (Lincoln Financial Field)
San Francisco Bay Area (Levi's Stadium)
Seattle (Lumen Field)
The cities in Mexico hosting the 2026 World Cup will be Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey. The Canadian host cities are Toronto and Vancouver.
The Dallas and New York stadiums are the largest in capacity.
If capacity is the deciding factor on what stadium the FIFA chooses for the World Cup finals, then the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, would win hands down. The stadium, which is home to the Dallas Cowboys NFL team, has a capacity of 92,967.
"Our stated goal is to have the finals," Dallas 2026 Committee Chairman and FC Dallas president Dan Hunt told ESPN. "That's why we competed to do this."
The second-largest stadium on the list is the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York City. The 87,157-capacity stadium is home to two NFL teams, the New York Giants and the New York Jets.
The rest of the U.S. stadiums on the list have an average capacity of about 70,000 people. The estimated attendance for the World Cup final is more than 65,000 people.
