'26 World Cup Bid Organizers Unveil Possible North American Venues

Organizers of the North American '26 FIFA World Cup bid today unveiled 49 venues across 44 cities to be considered for inclusion in the bid that will be sent to FIFA by March 16. The plan is to include 20-25 venues in the final bid, with at least 12 locations expected to ultimately serve as official host cities. See the full list of potential bid cities (USSF).

SI’s Brian Straus tweeted, “FIFA's World Cup minimum is 40K seats. USA has more than 130 stadiums that size. Morocco, the other 2026 bidder, currently has six.” Soccer America’s Paul Kennedy wrote of the proposed venue list, “Only U.S. stadium (currently open) at which soccer has never been played: Lambeau Field.” SBJ’s Ian Thomas noted, “2 MLS soccer-specific stadiums make ‘26 shortlist; BMO in Toronto and Stade Saputo in Montreal. But both need to add seats to reach 40k min.”