NEW YORK — FIFA president Gianni Infantino playfully warned this part of the world does not really know what’s coming in 2026.
“We often say it’s like 64 Super Bowls, in terms of audience, right?” Infantino said.
Thursday’s official announcement of the 16 host cities for the joint 2026 men’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, shed a little light on what’s to come and where people will convene.
“These three countries will be upside down, flipped back again,” Infantino said during an event to reveal the hosts. “The world will be invading Canada, Mexico and the United States. They will be invaded by a big wake of joy and happiness.”
He added 2026 will be “much bigger” than the last time the United States hosted the World Cup in 1994.
FIFA and CONCACAF narrowed 22 finalist locations to 16 cities that will host games in 2026.
That includes 11 U.S. cities: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco/Bay Area and Seattle.
There will be three host cities in Mexico: Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey; and two in Canada: Toronto and Vancouver.
One of the biggest surprises was Washington, D.C. not making the list. It will be only the second time in the men’s tournament history that a host nation’s capital does not host a game.
“This was a very, very difficult choice,” FIFA chief tournaments and events officer Colin Smith said. “You can’t imagine a World Cup coming to the U.S. and the capital city not taking a major role as well. So, we’ll be engaging with all the cities that weren’t chosen to host matches. There’s still lots of other areas of cooperation and working together and celebration.
“We know what a fan fest on the National Mall would be like [on the] 250th anniversary of the U.S.A. on the Fourth of July.”
Infantino confirmed a fan fest will still be held in D.C., which combined its bid with Baltimore in April in an attempt to strengthen its hosting chances.
U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone didn’t want to focus on the cities not selected Thursday, but rather celebrate the ones that will host games.
“This is an exciting day, right? One that we have been waiting for a long, long time to announce who are going to be the host cities,” Parlow Cone said. “And look, our nation’s capital is very much going to be a huge part of this World Cup, even though they’re not hosting games.”
And there will be another chance, if the U.S. hosts the women’s World Cup in 2027 or 2031. Parlow Cone said U.S. Soccer plans to bid for those tournaments, but is waiting on further guidance from FIFA.
The 1994 World Cup holds the record for highest attendance. About 3.58 million spectators watched, with an average match attendance of 68,991, according to U.S. Soccer.
Boston, Dallas and San Francisco hosted games in 1994 and will again in 2026. But Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York could really compete for record crowds based on stadium capacities and their appeal as international hubs.
“This is really a luxury problem that we have (selecting a location for the final) that is probably unique to this part of the world.” Infantino said. “We have cities here that are not just important cities in America, but global capitals.”
In Los Angeles County, matches will be held at the splashy SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, which opened in 2020 with a price tag of $5.5 billion. The venue has a 70,000-person capacity and is home to the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Chargers. It also hosted the most recent Super Bowl in February.
The LA metropolitan area is no stranger to record soccer crowds. The Rose Bowl in Pasadena hosted the 1999 women’s World Cup final in front of 90,185 people. The attendance set the world record for a women’s sporting event for nearly 23 years.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium has also become a soccer hub. The Atlanta venue has superb appeal thanks to an investment from owner Arthur Blank. Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United has experienced early success by winning the MLS Cup in 2018 in its second season.
Atlanta United holds the league’s attendance records for a regular-season match (72,035, March 2018 vs. D.C. United), MLS All-Star Game (72,317, August 2018 vs. Juventus) and for single-game attendance (73,018, December 2018 vs. Portland Timbers for the 2018 MLS Cup final). It also owns a Campeones Cup record (40,128, August 2019 vs. Club América).
New York/New Jersey is a host with a particular edge at nabbing the 2026 World Cup final because MetLife Stadium, home of the NFL’s New York Giants and Jets, has a capacity of 82,500.
But the location for the culmination of the tournament has not yet been determined.
“We haven’t even started that process,” CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani said. “We’ve been laboring at the last four years of venue visits to get to this point. There’ll be a whole other process to pick — and it’s not just the final, there’s a lot of big matches, knockout matches and the opening match.”
FIFA and CONCACAF will have to consider multiple factors, including the impact of travel across an entire continent, with multiple time zones and weather conditions.
The 2026 World Cup will be the first hosted by three countries. Nearly 3,000 miles separate Mexico City (the southern-most host) and Vancouver (the farthest north); Los Angeles (farthest west) and Boston (farthest east).
“When we design the calendar, when we decide on the kickoff times, when we look at the different schedules . . . in such a big region like North America, we need to make sure that teams are playing in clusters that the fans don’t have to travel crazy distances, and the teams as well,” Infantino said.
It will also be the first World Cup with an expanded 48-team field, which will be divided into 16 groups of three teams to begin play. Thirty-two teams will advance to the knockout stages.
When Infantino says the World Cup is like 64 Super Bowls, he is referring to the current version of the tournament. With the expanded tournament, the 2026 World Cup will actually, according to Infantino’s definition, be like 80 Super Bowls.
Announcing the host cities was just the start. Now the real work begins, according to Parlow Cone.
“We know we feel like ’26 is far away,” she said, “but it will be here before we know it.”
This article first appeared on USA Today Sports+