World Cup Americas 2026!

[MichaelB]

Host cities for the 2026 World Cup were announced. This is a nice wide reaching list of cities and lots of people from around the US, Canada and Mexico will have the opportunity to attend


New York/New Jersey (MetLife Stadium)
Los Angeles (SoFi Stadium)
Dallas (AT&T Stadium)
San Francisco Bay Area (Levi's Stadium)
Miami (Hard Rock Stadium)
Atlanta (Mercedes-Benz Stadium)
Seattle (Lumen Field)
Houston (NRG Stadium)
Philadelphia (Lincoln Financial Field)
Kansas City, Missouri (Arrowhead Stadium)
Boston (Gillette Stadium).


Guadalajara (Estadio Akron)
Monterrey (Estadio BBVA Bancomer)
Mexico City (Estadio Azteca)

Toronto (BMO Field)
Vancouver (BC Place).

60 matches will be held in the US, 10 each in Mexico and Canada, including knockout. All quarterfinal and beyond matches will be held in the US.
[quote] From the original "United 2026" bid from the three nations, 60 games are set to be played in the United States, while Mexico and Canada will each get 10 matches. Once the tournament reaches the quarterfinal stage, all remaining knockout round games will be held in the U.S. Here’s a write up from ESPN. https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-wor...nd-2-in-canada

[athena53]

I'm in Kansas City, 5 miles from the stadium, and not thrilled. The guy I'm dating, however, is doing the Happy Dance. He coached/reffed soccer for years, his daughters grew up playing it, older daughter married a pro player who's likely to be retired by 2026) and worked as a play-by-play announcer. He's already trying to find out where to put down a deposit on 2 tickets for each of the 6 matches that will be played here.

I'm a cynic. They're already talking about changes that need to be made to the stadium (remove Chiefs logo, enlarge playing area, special ventilation system for the "right" kind of grass). I'm sure there will be more at taxpayers' expense. While we'll get more sales tax revenue (but not on tickets- that's prohibited) and there will be a temporary surge in jobs, a lot of the benefits will flow to corporations- hotels, construction companies, etc.- and it won't all remain here.

I have a nice house only a few miles from Arrowhead and will be tempted to move out, rent it and stay with DS and DDIL in Des Moines. My friend has so many connections in the soccer world that I bet he could find someone who wants to rent my place rather than a complete stranger (or a dozen of them) booked by an agency.

[Gumby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by athena53 ..... I have a nice house only a few miles from Arrowhead and will be tempted to move out, rent it and stay with DS and DDIL in Des Moines. My friend has so many connections in the soccer world that I bet he could find someone who wants to rent my place rather than a complete stranger (or a dozen of them) booked by an agency.

In February 2010, we were taking a ferry across the Gulf of Naples from Sorrento to Naples when we got to talking with a Canadian couple who lived in Vancouver. The Winter Olympics were then in progress in Vancouver, so they rented their house out for the duration and took a vacation to Italy. I thought that was a marvelous idea.

[MBAustin]

I hope to be able to see at least one match, most likely in Houston or Dallas but could be somewhere else depending on where DS lands after he finishes his PhD next year (he's the big soccer fan so I'll be treating him to a ticket as well).

[athena53]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby In February 2010, we were taking a ferry across the Gulf of Naples from Sorrento to Naples when we got to talking with a Canadian couple who lived in Vancouver. The Winter Olympics were then in progress in Vancouver, so they rented their house out for the duration and took a vacation to Italy. I thought that was a marvelous idea.

Friend told me it will be 6 weeks between all the run-up before and the actual games- far too long to move in with DS and DDIL (even though I love them). I like the idea of just leaving the country for all or most of it and defraying the travel cost with the rental income.

Plenty of time to dream.

[Chuckanut]

I need to find a friend who LOVES football/futball/calcio/nogomet/sacar and lives in some place like Hawaii or Europe who will trade houses with me for when the games arrive in my area.

We need a website for that.

[38Chevy454]

Cincinnati was trying to be one of the cities in the USA. But not selected, with of course the local supporters disappointed. I am kind of ambivalent and agree it would probably need taxpayers to spend getting ready so it's acceptable to the soccer organization. I am not sure the return on investment is there.

[NYCFire]

I'm in NY and don't look forward to all the additional traffic this will create.

Personally, I don't follow non-American football.

[Gumby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYCFire I'm in NY and don't look forward to all the additional traffic this will create....

One of the reasons I was happy that NYC lost its bid to host the 2012 Olympics.

[zinger1457]

I lived in the Los Angeles area during the 84 Olympics and everyone was so scared of how bad the traffic would be that they stayed off the roads or carpooled, the highway traffic flowed much better than usual.

[athena53]

I was reading an article on how KC "sold" themselves as a site. They mentioned our new airport, which is still under construction. I don't think your average Joe supported that project but it got crammed through by the politicians anyway. Current airport has each TSA line serving only a few gates so the lines are never that bad. VERY short walks from ticketing to TSA gates and from entrance to ticketing/bag check. Not a lot of facilities airside, but enough. No airline clubs.

So- now we're getting a Taj Mahal with fewer TSA lines (which means they'll be longer), lots and lots of retail space (yeah, that's why I go to the airport) and undoubtedly far longer distances to walk. If it meant we'd get nonstops to Europe and airline clubs it would be nice but there are no such promises.

Apparently it helped with the sales pitch, though.