2026 World Cup Final and Venue Announcements

The 2026 World Cup final will be held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 19. FIFA made this announcement on Sunday at a Miami television studio. The tournament opener will take place at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca on June 11.

Semifinals and Quarterfinals

The semifinals of the tournament will be played on July 14 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and the following day at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The quarterfinals will be held on July 9 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on July 10 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, and on July 11 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, and Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. On July 18, the third-place game will be held at Hard Rock Stadium.

U.S. Team Matches

The U.S. team will start their journey at SoFi Stadium on June 12, then play again on June 19 at Seattle’s Lumen Field, and finish their group stage matches at SoFi Stadium on June 25.

Multiple Matches

AT&T Stadium, home to the Dallas Cowboys, will have the privilege of hosting the most matches, with a total of nine. FIFA officials did not publicly disclose the process behind their decision-making for the sites.

Expansion and Hosting Countries

As part of an expansion, the World Cup will now include 48 nations and 104 matches, instead of the previous 32 nations and 64 matches. The 2026 tournament will be co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, with all quarterfinal matches and beyond taking place in the U.S. FIFA had already announced the 16 sites for the tournament back in 2022.

Canadian Matches

Canada will begin its opening first-round match on June 12 in Toronto, followed by two more games in Vancouver, British Columbia, on June 18 and 24.

Venue Selection and Facilities

A nation will now need to play eight matches to win the title, up from the previous requirement of seven since 1982. Various stadiums across the U.S., including Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts; NRG Stadium in Houston; Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri; Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia; and Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, will host matches. In Mexico, matches will be played at Estadio BBVA in Monterrey and Estadio Akron in Guadalajara.

Stadiums and Copa América Final

All 11 U.S. stadiums for the World Cup are also the home stadiums for NFL teams. Hard Rock Stadium will host this year’s Copa América final on July 14, while MetLife Stadium was the site of the 2016 Copa América final. Moreover, it is worth mentioning that both the 1970 and 1986 World Cup finals were held at Azteca Stadium.

Past Hosting by the U.S.

In 1994, when the U.S. hosted the 24-nation, 52-game tournament, the final was held at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and the opening match took place at Chicago’s Soldier Field.

Duration and Scheduling Changes

With the inclusion of additional teams, the length of the tournament will now extend beyond the previous 29 days of the shortened 2022 schedule in Qatar and the 32 days of the 2018 tournament in Russia. Notably, only one match will involve a team that has had less than three days of rest. FIFA divided the group stage into East, Central, and West regions to minimize travel time for group winners.

Venue Specifications

The stadiums in Arlington, Atlanta, and Houston are equipped with retractable roofs that will likely be closed due to summer heat. Inglewood and Vancouver have fixed roofs. Additionally, artificial turf will be replaced by grass in Arlington, Atlanta, East Rutherford, Foxborough, Houston, Inglewood, and Vancouver. Some venues will also widen their playing surfaces to accommodate a 75-by-115 yard (68-by-105 meter) field, including AT&T Stadium and MetLife Stadium.

Kickoff Times

FIFA has not yet announced the specific kickoff times for the matches. In the 1994 championship, matches started at 12:30 p.m. PDT (3:30 p.m. EDT and 9:30 p.m. in Central Europe). However, recent years have seen an earlier start time as the Asian television market has become increasingly significant for FIFA. For instance, the 2022 final in Qatar started at 5 p.m. local time (10 a.m. EDT, 4 p.m. in Central Europe, and 10 p.m. in Beijing).