FIFA will announce U.S., Mexico and Canada venues for the 2026 World Cup, which will feature 48 teams and 80 games

The FIFA Thursday will announce the venues of the 2026 World Cup. A total of 17 stadiums in 16 metropolitan areas are bidding to be in the bottom 10 for matches in the United States for the first World Cup with 48 selectionswhich will co-host Mexico and Canada, with three host cities each.

The United States will host 60 of the 80 matches, according to FIFA’s plan, including all quarter-final matches.

When evaluating candidate cities, three categories can be identified:

Those that seem fixed: AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; and Met Life in East Rutherford, New Jersey; as well as SoFi in Inglewood or the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

Those who keep the possibilities: Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta; the M&T Bank of Baltimore; la Gillette in Foxborough, Mass .; the NRG in Houston; the arrowhead in Kansas City, Missouri; Hard Rock at Miami Gardens, Florida; Nissan in Nashville, Tennessee; Lincoln Financial Field of Philadelphia; Levi’s in Santa Clara, California; and Lumen Field in Seattle.

Those who have more difficulty: Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati; Upgrade Field Mile High in Denver; and Camping World in Orlando, Florida.

There is no mystery about where they are located Mexico and Canadawith 10 parties in each country.

Mexicans have proposed stadiums as venues BBVA in Monterey, in the north of the country; the Akron of Guadalajara, in the west; and the iconic Aztec in Mexico City, located in the center. The three cities have received World Cup matches previously held in the country, although the stadiums in Monterrey and Guadalajara have recently been created.

The Azteca in the capital of Mexico was the scene of the 1970 and 1986 finals and will become the first stadium with three World Cups.

Toronto’s BMO Field and Vancouver’s BC Place are Canada’s favorite spots. Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton would not be considered, although it still has a chance.

What is said about the United States

Alan Rothenberg American sports attorney, manager and businessman recalled the stadium selection process for the 1994 tournament in the United States and made a notable difference with the current designation: “They gave the rights to the host country and the host basically took care of everything. Here, everything is managed by FIFA. It was a long and arduous process. The requirements were really tough on the cities ”.

For 1994, the announcement of the nine stadiums in the United States was given at a press conference at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, 816 days before the opening game. This time, the decisions will be revealed by FIFA in a Fox network study 1,456 days in advance.

“This country has more than 17 cities capable of hosting the World Cup and it will be sad for those that are excluded,” he said. Andrea Singer, the Telemundo commentator who has been broadcasting all tournaments since 1990 and will participate in the announcement of the venues. “But I don’t think it takes anything away from the fan’s fervor to go to matches, regardless of where their country plays in 2026”.

For its part, Emilio Azcarragathe owner of Televisa, the Mexican television network that owns the Azteca stadium, commented: “I had the opportunity to be in other stadiums, yes they can be more modern, more beautiful, but I lose that soul, that heart and that story. And he added: “And the stadium for 2026 will be, not only the most functional stadium, but the stadium that will have the most heart and soul”.

Rothenberg says that uncertainty prevailed until the last week in the race between the sofiwhich would require a costly renovation to expand the size of the court, and the Bowl of roses.

“At this moment the telephone consultations do not stop”he said Tuesday. “The Los Angeles local committee will negotiate with FIFA until the time of the announcement. The cost in Los Angeles is the hardest part.”

Only two of the aspiring stadiums were stages in 1994: the Rose Bowl and the Orlando one. MLS clubs have built world-class sporting cities, thus providing an infrastructure superior to that of the first World Cup in the United States, when Italy trained at Pingri, a high school in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.