Posted on December 5th, 2022

The next FIFA World Cup is coming to North America. Sixteen cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico will host soccer’s most prestigious tournament in what could be a boon to the sport’s growing popularity among Americans.

The three nations' joint bid to host the 2026 World Cup beat Morocco's bid in 2018. It will be the second time the U.S. hosts the men’s competition, after hosting the 1994 World Cup. It will be Canada’s first time hosting the men’s tournament, and Mexico’s record third time as World Cup hosts after hosting it in 1970 and 1986.Here's what to know about the next FIFA World Cup, including host cities, tickets and a new expanded field.

2026 FIFA World Cup Trophy on display before press conference at Rockefeller Plaza. Thursday, June 16, 2022, in New York.

2026 World Cup host cities and stadiums

United States: 11 cities

• Atlanta: Mercedes-Benz Stadium (capacity 75,000) 
• Boston: Gillette Stadium (capacity 70,000)
• Dallas: AT&T Stadium (capacity 92,967) 
• Houston: NRG Stadium (capacity 72,220) 
• Kansas City: Arrowhead Stadium (capacity 76,640) 
• Los Angeles: SoFi Stadium (capacity 70,000) 
• Miami: Hard Rock Stadium (capacity 67,518) 
• New York/New Jersey: MetLife Stadium (capacity 87,157) 
• Philadelphia: Lincoln Financial Field (capacity 69,328) 
• San Francisco/Bay Area: Levi's Stadium (capacity 70,909) 
• Seattle: Lumen Field (capacity 69,000) 

Mexico: 3 cities

• Guadalajara: Estadio Akron (capacity 48,071) 
• Mexico City: Estadio Azteca (capacity 87,523) 
• Monterrey: Estadio BBVA (capacity 53,460) 

Canada: 2 cities

• Toronto: BMO Field (capacity 45,500)
• Vancouver: BC Place (capacity 54,500)

Why is the 2026 World Cup between three countries?

The soccer federations of the U.S., Canada and Mexico agreed to submit a joint bid to FIFA to host the competition. The bid won in 2018, with a majority of FIFA’s congress voting to grant rights to the three nations. 

The World Cup has been jointly hosted once before, in 2002 by South Korea and Japan. This is the first time three nations will host the World Cup. 

The North American nations called the bid “United 2026” and contended that their combined sporting event infrastructure made them the best equipped to handle an expanded 48-team tournament.

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Prior World Cups, including Qatar 2022, Russia 2018 and Brazil 2014, have been marred by human rights abuses of workers tasked with hurriedly delivering brand new stadiums. In Brazil’s case, some locals were displaced from their homes to make way for new World Cup stadiums, according to the Washington Post. 

“Without a need to worry about construction timelines or its related risks, the focus of the 2026 FIFA World Cup can be on welcoming, inspiring, and empowering the world to contribute to the future of football,” states United 2026’s bid book. 

Are 2026 FIFA World Cup tickets on sale?

No not yet, according to FIFA’s website. Tickets will go on sale in 2025, according to the United 2026 World Cup bid book. 

For reference, Qatar 2022 tickets went on sale in January, 10 months before the tournament’s start. 

How much will 2026 FIFA World Cup tickets cost?

FIFA has yet to provide pricing information, but ticket prices for the opening match of the 2022 World Cup were as low as $54 for Qatar residents and $302 for non-Qatar residents as of Nov. 16. The cheapest group stage match tickets were priced at approximately $11 for locals and $69 for fans from abroad. 

The cheapest tickets for the 2022 World Cup final were roughly $604 for fans from abroad and $206 for locals. 

It’s unclear if FIFA will offer discounted ticket prices for U.S., Canada and Mexico residents as it did for the residents of 2022's host nation. 

An expanded tournament

FIFA in 2017 voted to expand the 2026 World Cup from 32 teams to 48 teams. It will consist of 16 groups of three, with the top two teams in each group advancing to a round of 32. 

What time of the year will the 2026 World Cup be?

The 2026 World Cup is slated to return to the summer. Final dates have yet to be announced, but the tournament will likely span from June to July in line with past World Cups. FIFA pushed the 2022 Qatar World Cup to November and December due to the country's extreme summer heat. 

Text and image source: USA Today.