My (World) Cup Runneth Over

When the North American bid for the 2026 World Cup was presented to FIFA, the proposed venue for the final was MetLife Stadium.  Then, everyone became convinced the final would be held anywhere else.  The most popular rumor was that it was headed to Dallas.  Well, as it turns out, that's all they were.  Rumors.  Because the World Cup Final is being held in the exact stadium that was proposed six years ago.

Obviously, I'm biased towards New York, but the fact that Dallas was even being seriously considered for the final was just nonsensical to me.  Sure, it had its advantages.  Jerry's World can fit 110,000 people and has a roof, which would've been incredibly valuable for a mid-afternoon kickoff in Texas in July.  But it wouldn't have been the sexiest choice.  And it's not New York, which is a point I kept coming back to.

No offense to Dallas, but when people think of cities in the United States, only two come to mind.  And Dallas ain't one of 'em!  The only logical places that would make sense to international visitors were New York and Los Angeles.  The 1994 World Cup Final was at the Rose Bowl, but kickoff was at noon local time, which obviously is not ideal.  Which leaves New York, where a 3 p.m. Eastern kickoff is 8:00 in Western Europe.  (Yes, it'll be hot in an open-air stadium on a Sunday afternoon in mid-July.  I understand that.)

The other big advantage that New York had over Dallas is obvious.  That's where all the international flights land!  New York, obviously, isn't the only destination for trans-Atlantic flights, but it's certainly a more convenient option than Dallas would've been.  And you can bet there were plenty of UEFA higher-ups who were sure to let FIFA know their preference!

Dallas was, however, given the most games.  There will be nine games played at Jerry's World, including a semifinal on July 14.  The other semi is in Atlanta, a city that absolutely deserves it with how they've embraced their MLS team.  (Atlanta will also host the opening game of Copa America this summer.)  It's one of eight games in Atlanta.  Miami, meanwhile, got the bronze-medal contest as one of its seven games.

As for LA, they've had a very interesting journey when it comes to the 2026 World Cup.  There was a point when LA was going to be pulled as a venue because the field at SoFi Stadium isn't wide enough and Rams owner Stan Kroenke didn't want to widen it to meet FIFA's specifications, with Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas mentioned as the possible replacement.  All that eventually got resolved, though, and LA didn't just remain a host...it got two Team USA games, including the first game played in the U.S.

That, to me, is appropriate.  As I mentioned, the first two cities that come to mind when you think of the United States are New York and Los Angeles.  So, if the final's in New York, it makes sense that the opening game's in LA.  You've also gotta love the symmetry of LA hosting the final in 1994, then the first USA game in 2026.  It's not the opening game of the entire tournament, though.  That's at Azteca.

With Mexico and Canada also co-hosting, it was widely expected that Azteca would get to host the opener.  Which was absolutely the right call!  The home of Mexican soccer is one of only two stadiums in the world (along with Maracana in Rio de Janeiro) to have hosted two World Cup Finals.  Now it will be the first to host three World Cup openers.  (And, the best part is, the U.S. won't have to play there!)

Canada's first game is in Toronto before they head west to Vancouver.  That'll be the only time teams have to cross regions during the early stages of the tournament.  Canada enjoys a huge home field advantage at BMO Field, which, ironically, didn't host any games during the 2015 Women's World Cup since the city was hosting the Pan Am Games.  That final was held in Vancouver instead, so it's only fitting that both Canadian venues get to see the home team.

Mexico and Canada will both play all three of their group games at home.  Assuming they advance, their round of 32 games will presumably be at home, as well.  There are also round of 16 games in Mexico City and Vancouver, so they could theoretically each play five home games before having to cross the border.  In total, Mexico and Canada will host 13 games each.  They were originally each supposed to get 10, but that number was obviously gonna increase when FIFA added 40 more games to the schedule!

They also took a page out of Qatar's book and won't assign games to individual stadiums until after the draw is made.  All we know right now is the days when each stadium will have a game.  They also very smartly organized the games by region, which will make travel much easier for the teams and their fans.  Teams will either play all their games out West, in the Central Region, or in the East (they originally had Atlanta in the Central for some reason, then realized it made more sense for Atlanta to be with Miami in the East).  The only exception is Canada and their first opponent traveling from Toronto to Vancouver after the first game.

Teams that finish first or second in their group won't have to do much traveling in the knockout stage, either.  That's one of the reasons why it took so long to finalize and announce the schedule, but it makes sense that they took their time and considered all of these factors.  At the 1994 World Cup, teams were zigzagging across the U.S. throughout the entire tournament, and it took its toll.  This time, the teams that play in that L.A. quarterfinal will play their first six games on the West Coast, and some teams in the East Region may not have to change time zones at all!

In fact, taking a closer look, I noticed that the 16 cities are grouped into eight sets of partners towards the end of the group phase.  That'll cut down on travel even more.  Those simultaneous final group games that FIFA loves (and were the reason for the format change from 16 groups of 3 to 12 groups of 4) will be in LA/San Francisco, Seattle/Vancouver, Mexico City/Monterrey, Guadalajara/Houston, Dallas/Kansas City, New York/Philadelphia and Toronto/Boston.

Once they get to the knockout phase, there's one thing that I was really hoping they'd do, and I'm so glad they did it!  There's a game in Philadelphia on the Fourth of July!  With July falling on a Saturday in 2026, you knew there would be at least one knockout game played that day.  And, really, if you're playing a World Cup game in the U.S. on the country's 250th birthday, where else could it be?  (Citizens Bank Park has also never hosted the MLB All*Star Game.  They've been waiting until 2026 for the same reason.)

This will be the biggest World Cup in history.  The first with 48 teams.  The first with a round of 32.  And, the 104 games are more than twice as many as when the United States hosted in 1994 (the last 24-team tournament).  It will also be the longest, at five and a half weeks.  The opening game at Azteca is on June 11, while the final at MetLife (sorry, New York New Jersey) Stadium is on July 17.  (If MLB is smart, they'll wait until July 19 for the 2026 All*Star Game so it's not on the same night as a World Cup semifinal.)

It'll obviously be a while until we know the other 45 teams that'll be playing in the 2026 World Cup.  Qualifying only just started and the final qualifying tournament isn't until November 2025.  But we at least now when where and when the games are.  So, now the excitement can really begin!