US, Canada, and Mexico will host the World Cup 2026; Miami and Orlando may host some games

The 2026 World Cup, the first with 48 teams, will be played in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Miami and Orlando could host some games. The decision was announced this week in Moscow, during the FIFA Congress. The US-led candidacy had 134 votes, against 65 votes from Morocco.

The Moroccan bid was defeated in its fifth attempt to organize the World Cup. One confederation voted for no candidacy, and there were still three absent. Eight countries were unable to vote: Guam, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, plus the four candidates (Morocco, USA, Canada, and Mexico), as well as Ghana, who did not come to Congress (President of the Federation imprisoned and under government intervention).

The 2026 edition will usher in a new World Cup model – with more participants, more games, more stadiums and more organizing nations. Instead of the current 32 teams divided into eight groups of four, the World Cup will have 48 participants, divided into 16 groups of three. The first two of each key advance to the kills, which will have one stage more than today. The new format of the World Cup will force FIFA to redesign the Qualifiers, as all confederations will have more vacancies than they have today.

Stadiums

The North American World Cup will be mostly played in the United States. Of the 80 matches in the tournament, 60 will be in the country, including the final. The remaining 20 will be divided equally between Canada and Mexico. It will be the second US Cup, which has already hosted the tournament in 1994, and the third in Mexico, which hosted the World Cup in 1970 and 1986.

Among the stadiums scheduled to possibly host games are: Atlanta (Mercedes-Benz Stadium), Baltimore (M&T Bank Stadium), Boston (Gillette Stadium), Cincinnati (Paul Brown Stadium), Dallas (AT&T Stadium), Denver (Sports Authority Field), Houston (NRG Stadium), Kansas City (Arrowhead Stadium), Los Angeles (Rose Bowl and the new NFL stadium), Miami (Hard Rock Stadium), Nashville (Nissan Stadium), New York (MetLife Stadium), Orlando (Camping World Stadium), Philadelphia (Lincoln Financial Field), San Jose (Levi’s Stadium), Seattle (Century Link Field) and Washington (FedEx Field).