The 2026 World Cup is already casting its shadow. The finals will take place in the USA, Mexico and Canada. The venues have now been determined – a large part of the games will take place in the USA.
A good five months before the start of the soccer World Cup in Qatar, the venues for the subsequent World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico have been determined. The 2026 tournament will be the first with 48 participants. The world association Fifa also took into account the SoFi Stadium south of Los Angeles, which opened just two years ago, in the award broadcast live on US television on Thursday (local time), although the playing field of the stadium, which costs around five billion US dollars, is too narrow and has been specially rebuilt must be made in order to comply with the regulations.
A total of 16 cities will get World Cup games – Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey in Mexico, Vancouver and Toronto in Canada and, in addition to Los Angeles, ten other cities in the USA. Which cities will host the final and the opening game has not yet been decided. “We will take our time with the decision. We will select the best cities for this,” said Fifa President Gianni Infantino.
Capacity of at least 60,000 spectators
60 of the 80 games are to take place in the USA, including all games from the quarterfinals onwards. According to the current status, ten games each are planned in Canada and Mexico. Almost all stadiums have a capacity of at least 60,000 spectators. Only the BMO Field, home of the MLS club Toronto FC, falls behind with currently 30,000 places. However, the arena in the Canadian metropolis is to be expanded to accommodate up to 45,000 seats for the World Cup.