Football
Tom Marshall, Mexico correspondent 7y

2026 World Cup bid to consider 49 stadiums across U.S., Mexico, Canada

Thirty-four cities in the United States, seven cities in Canada and three in Mexico are on the list of proposed locations to host games at the 2026 World Cup, the United Bid Committee announced on Tuesday.

The organizers will reach out to each of the cities on the list and those hoping to be selected will have until Sept. 5 to declare their interest.

Those cities will then have until early January 2018 to prepare their bid to become a World Cup host, if they make the initial shortlist, which is set to be announced in late September.

Between 20-25 venues are set to be included in the final bid to FIFA, with the committee anticipating that 12 or more locations will be official host cities, if the North American bid is successful.

The bid lists a total of 49 stadiums across 44 cities, with three venues in the Los Angeles area and two in Dallas, Montreal and Toronto. Stadiums of all 32 NFL teams are on the list except for the Buffalo Bills' New Era Field.

The official bid for the 2026 World Cup by the United States, Mexico and Canada will be delivered to FIFA by the March 16, 2018, deadline and will face competition from Morocco, which announced a last-minute bid last week.

If successful, the U.S.-Canada-Mexico bid would return the World Cup to the United States for the first time since 1994, and would also make Mexico the first three-time host.

The plan calls for the U.S. to host 60 of the 80 games, with 10 each in Mexico and Canada. The only Mexican cities included on the list are Guadalajara (Estadio Chivas), Mexico City (Estadio Azteca) and Monterrey (Estadio Rayados).

FIFA requires a capacity of 80,000 for the opener and final, making the only possible sites in the list for those games Dallas, Los Angeles and New Jersey, as well as the less likely Washington, Jacksonville and Green Bay. Lambeau Field has never even hosted a U.S. national team game before.

Estadio Azteca in Mexico City also remains a possibility for the opener, though every game from the quarterfinals on will be in the U.S.

United States
CityStadiumCapacity
AtlantaMercedes-Benz Stadium75,000
BaltimoreM&T Bank Stadium71,008
Birmingham, Ala.Legion Field71,594
Boston (Foxborough, Mass.)Gillette Stadium66,829
Charlotte, N.C.Bank of America Stadium75,525
ChicagoSoldier Field61,500
CincinnatiPaul Brown Stadium65,515
ClevelandFirstEnergy Stadium67,895
DallasCotton Bowl92,100
Dallas (Arlington, Texas)AT&T Stadium105,000
DenverSports Authority Field76,125
DetroitFord Field65,000
Green Bay, Wis.Lambeau Field81,441
HoustonNRG Stadium72,200
IndianapolisLucas Oil Stadium70,000
Jacksonville, Fla.EverBank Field82,000
Kansas City, Mo.Arrowhead Stadium76,416
Las VegasRaiders Stadium72,000
Los AngelesLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum93,000
Los Angeles (Inglewood, Calif.)City of Champions Stadium100,000
Los Angeles (Pasadena, Calif.)Rose Bowl90,888
MiamiHard Rock Stadium65,326
MinneapolisU.S. Bank Stadium66,200
Nashville, Tenn.Nissan Stadium69,143
New OrleansMercedes-Benz Superdome76,468
New York/New Jersey (East Rutherford, N.J.)MetLife Stadium82,500
Orlando, Fla.Camping World Stadium65,000
PhiladelphiaLincoln Financial Field69,596
Phoenix (Glendale, Ariz.)University of Phoenix Stadium73,000
PittsburghHeinz Field68,400
Salt Lake CityRice-Eccles Stadium45,807
San AntonioAlamodome72,000
San DiegoQualcomm Stadium71,500
San Francisco/San Jose (Santa Clara, Calif.)Levi's Stadium75,000
SeattleCenturyLink Field72,000
Tampa, Fla.Raymond James Stadium75,000
Washington (Landover, Md.)FedEx Field82,000
Canada
CityStadiumCapacity
Calgary, AlbertaMcMahon Stadium35,650
Edmonton, AlbertaCommonwealth Stadium56,302
MontrealStade Olympique61,004
MontrealStade Saputo20,801
Ottawa, OntarioTD Place Stadium24,000
Regina, SaskatchewanMosaic Stadium30,048
TorontoRogers Centre53,506
TorontoBMO Field30,000
Vancouver, British ColumbiaBC Place54,500
Mexico
CityStadiumCapacity
Guadalajara, JaliscoEstadio Chivas45,364
Mexico CityEstadio Azteca87,000
Monterrey, Nuevo LeonEstadio Rayados52,237
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