SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles among the US venues chosen to host the 2026 World Cup

FIFA, the governing body of football, said Thursday that Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium, home to the NFL’s Rams and Los Angeles Chargers and host of this year’s Super Bowl, is among 16 venues that will host the Cup. of the World 2026.

The 2026 four-year global soccer tournament will be the first to expand to 48 teams and will take place in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, which hosted the last U.S.-based Men’s World Cup in 1994 and the Women’s World Cup in 1999, including both finals, was not among the stadiums selected today from 16 host cities selected by 22 lists and grouped. Geographic region to better organize the different time zones that will be in the game.

To the west, the cities joining Los Angeles are Levi’s Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area and Lumen Field in Seattle in the United States; Vancouver BC Place in Canada; and the Guadalajara Akron stadium in Mexico. Centrally located are the AT&T stadium in Dallas, the Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta, the Arrowhead stadium in Kansas City and the NRG stadium in Houston, USA; And the BBVA Bancomer stadium in Monterrey and the Azteca stadium in Mexico City in Mexico. To the east are the MetLife Stadium in New York / New Jersey, the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and the Gillette Stadium in Boston in the United States; and Toronto BMO Field Canada.

Most U.S. gyms will need to adjust boundaries to accommodate larger soccer fields and grass surfaces that need to be installed in some stadiums, including SoFi, a $ 5 billion complex that opened less than two years ago.

All matches, including the opening and final matches, will be officially announced later, but a total of 60 matches will be played in the United States, Mexico and Canada will receive 10. All quarter-final matches will take place in the United States.

While not final, the organizing committee, in its initial bidding book, has offered a west-east broadcast for these playoff games, with the semifinals in Dallas and Atlanta and the final at East Rutherford, MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Opening matches would take place in all three countries, including Los Angeles’ famed Estadio Azteca and Mexico, both former hosts of the final.

Today’s news comes after preparations for this year’s World Cup in Qatar, where it will take place from 21 November to 17 December. This is a year later in the calendar year than the usual June-July runner for the tournament, which was then moved to warmer conditions. Region. The United States will face Wales in one of four opening rounds of the group stage on opening day and will also face England and Iran in their group.