FIFA announced the host cities for the 2026 World Cup and Washington, D.C. was not among the chosen.
North America will play host to the international soccer tournament. The United States of America, Canada and Mexico are jointly hosting the 2026 event. It’ll be the first time a World Cup is hosted in three countries. On Thursday, FIFA revealed the cities selected:
Earlier this year, the home stadium of the Washington Commanders, FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, withdrew its bid to be a host site. Instead, D.C. and Baltimore merged their bids at the suggestion of FIFA. The games would’ve been played at the Baltimore Ravens’ M&T Bank Stadium. A fan festival was going to be held at the National Mall in downtown Washington, D.C.
However, FIFA officials “very likely” selected Boston over the D.C./Baltimore for the final slot, according to the Washington Post’s Steven Goff,
This is just the third time a capital city wasn’t selected among the primary host country, according to Goff.
The United States has 11 cities chosen, while Mexico has three and Canada two.
Canada’s capital Ottawa also wasn’t chosen. But, Mexico City was selected.
D.C. had been a host the previous two times the World Cup was held in America. FedEx Field held games during the 1999 Women’s World Cup. Meanwhile, the old RFK Stadium did so during the 1994 World Cup.
The Cup’s field will expand to 48 teams for the first time in 2026. There will be 16 groups of three teams. The knockout stage will consist of 32 teams for the first time ever.
Canada and Mexico City will host 10 games each. The United States will get 60 games, including the quarterfinals and each round after.
