World Cup committee seeks bids from 44 cities
CHICAGO (AP) The committee that is hoping to bring the 2026 World Cup to the United States, Mexico and Canada is seeking bids from 44 cities that may be interested in hosting matches.
The United Bid Committee is considering 49 stadiums in those regions for inclusion in the official bid that will be sent to soccer's international governing body, FIFA, in March.
The committee announced Tuesday that it will review interest and select a short list of possible host cities in September. The bid ultimately sent to FIFA is expected to include up to 25 venues, but it is expected that 12 cities will be designated as official hosts.
The 2026 World Cup will be the first with a 48-team field. Morocco has also declared its intention to bid for the event.
A list of the possible games sites, broken down by market, venue and capacity:
United States:
Atlanta, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, 75,000.
Baltimore, M&T Bank Stadium, 71,008.
Birmingham, Alabama, Legion Field, 71,594.
Boston, Gillette Stadium (Foxboro), 65,892.
Charlotte, North Carolina, Bank of America Stadium, 75,400.
Chicago, Soldier Field, 61,500.
Cincinnati, Paul Brown Stadium, 65,515.
Cleveland, FirstEnergy Stadium, 68,710.
Dallas, Cotton Bowl, 92,100.
Dallas, AT&T Stadium (Arlington), 105,000.
Denver, Sports Authority Field at Mile High, 76,125.
Detroit, Ford Field, 65,000.
Green Bay, Wisconsin, Lambeau Field, 81,441.
Houston, NRG Stadium, 71,500.
Indianapolis, Lucas Oil Stadium, 65,700.
Jacksonville, Florida, EverBank Field, 64,000.
Kansas City, Missouri, Arrowhead Stadium, 76,416.
Las Vegas, Raiders Stadium, 72,000.
Los Angeles, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, 78,500.
Los Angeles, LA Stadium at Hollywood Park (Inglewood), TBD.
Los Angeles, Rose Bowl (Pasadena) 87,527.
Miami, Hard Rock Stadium, 65,767.
Minneapolis, U.S. Bank Stadium, 63,000.
Nashville, Nissan Stadium, 69,143.
New Orleans, Mercedes-Benz Superdome, 72,000.
New York/New Jersey, MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford), 82,500.
Orlando, Florida, Camping World Stadium, 65,000.
Philadelphia, Lincoln Financial Field, 69,328.
Phoenix, University of Phoenix Stadium (Glendale), 73,000.
Pittsburgh, Heinz Field, 68,400.
Salt Lake City, Rice-Eccles Stadium, 45,807.
San Antonio, Alamodome, 72,000.
San Diego, Qualcomm Stadium, 71,500.
San Francisco/San Jose, Levi's Stadium (Santa Clara), 75,000.
Seattle, CenturyLink Field, 69,000.
Tampa, Florida, Raymond James Stadium, 73,309.
Washington, DC, FedEx Field (Landover), 82,000.
Canada:
Calgary, Alberta, McMahon Stadium, 35,650.
Edmonton, Alberta, Commonwealth Stadium, 56,335.
Montr�al, Quebec, Stade Olympique , 61,004.
Montr�al, Quebec, Stade Saputo, 20,801.
Ottawa, Ontario, TD Place Stadium, 24,341.
Regina, Saskatchewan, Mosaic Stadium, 30,048.
Toronto, Ontario, Rogers Centre, 53,506.
Toronto, Ontario, BMO Field, 28,026.
Vancouver, British Columbia, BC Place, 55,165.
Mexico:
Guadalajara, Jalisco, Estadio Chivas, 45,364.
Mexico City, Estadio Azteca, 87,000.
Monterrey, Nuevo Le�n, Estadio Rayados, 52,237.