US, Canada, Mexico win joint bid for 2026 World Cup

67YAZ

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I haven’t seen the details, but several cities, including Chicago, pulled out of hosting bids due to FIFA requests for tax waivers and signing contracts under Swiss jurisdiction.
 

Senator Donut

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ThePrideofShiner

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That gives me slightly better odds at getting to go to a game.

Rumor has it that they will remove the turf and install grass before the Sounders 2026 season and then have grass throughout the World Cup. Not sure if the Seahawks will then force them to put turf back down or not.
 

nolasoxfan

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FFS, how long are they going to milk these announcements? 30 minutes to announce 6 sites so far.

edit: Central region: add Dallas, KC, Atlanta, Houston, Monterrey, and Mexico City. Looks like Denver gets snubbed.
 

Kliq

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By Boston they mean Foxboro right?

Was hoping to go up to Montreal for games but I guess they dropped out of contention before the selections were announced.
 

Mighty Joe Young

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By Boston they mean Foxboro right?

Was hoping to go up to Montreal for games but I guess they dropped out of contention before the selections were announced.
Yep..pity .. Thinking they guessed there were three Canadian cities maximum and they’d be 4th seed at best. Edmonton missed out which was a little curious. Not enough bribes doled out
 

blueline

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Honestly devastated that DC/Baltimore missed out. Been dreaming of living in a host city and going to the matches since it was clear 2026 was coming to the US. Can't say it was complexity unjustified though.
 

67YAZ

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On the one hand, I think cities get ripped off hosting major sporting events. On the other hand, Cook County adopted an surcharge tax on cable, streaming, and cell phone services to pay for the 2016 Olympics…yeah, exactly. The surcharge was set to expire in 2020, but the county made it permanent. So I’m already paying for a fucking international sporting event! Just give me one World Cup match!
 

Ale Xander

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Honestly devastated that DC/Baltimore missed out. Been dreaming of living in a host city and going to the matches since it was clear 2026 was coming to the US. Can't say it was complexity unjustified though.
They probably want to avoid murdered fans for PR reasons
 

blueline

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This is very exciting. Probably tickets go to a lottery? From memory we usually only get early group stage matches right?
Yeah, usually you apply for tickets at a certain price tier, and then there's a random drawing. There will probably be a few knockout round matches. Foxboro hosted a Round of 16 and QF match.
 

CFB_Rules

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Wonder if Revs season ticket holders will get automatic chance at tickets. May be worthwhile just for that reason.
Tickets are purchased directly from FIFA from a worldwide lottery. I don't know what local allotment they give to the stadiums, if any, but judging from the "negotiations" with other cities and all of the concessions FIFA wants I bet it is very little.
 

canderson

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DC has a shitty stadium that’s probably why they aren’t hosting a game.
Baltimore was technically the host. From what a politician told me a few minutes ago the DC bid got torpedoes by Kraft who is close to some FIFA members. FIFA is the most corrupt organization is the world so I’m sure it’s a solid quid pro pro.
 

blueline

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Baltimore was technically the host. From what a politician told me a few minutes ago the DC bid got torpedoes by Kraft who is close to some FIFA members. FIFA is the most corrupt organization is the world so I’m sure it’s a solid quid pro pro.
What did Kraft have to do with it? DC was the easiest to torpedo to get Boston in?
 

lexrageorge

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NY was a lock, so one of Baltimore, Philly and Boston was going to be eliminated. I’m surprised they didn’t pick DC/Baltimore, but maybe having one stadium rather than 2 gave the others the edge.
 

Kliq

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Kraft has a long history of supporting US Soccer and is super well connected in the world of sports; Foxborough was always going to have an edge in this kind of process. Same can be said for Kansas City, the Hunt family was always going to get World Cup games.
 

Rancho Relaxo

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As a Kansas City-area resident, I cannot be more excited. I'd been lucky enough to be oversees for multiple World Cups. The energy around it is phenomenal and hard to explain. I can't wait for my friends and family here to get sucked in.

I'm also so happy for the city. We're obviously not DC. Or even Denver. But this town loves soccer. There's such an honest enthusiasm behind it. And after all the turmoil we've all been through, it was awesome to see our otherwise somber mayor lose his shit in pure joy at the announcement.

If it winds up that anyone wants to head this way to catch a match, do let me know! We're not all uncultured baboons out here. And barbecue aside, we craft some decent beer, too.
 

tims4wins

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As a Kansas City-area resident, I cannot be more excited. I'd been lucky enough to be oversees for multiple World Cups. The energy around it is phenomenal and hard to explain. I can't wait for my friends and family here to get sucked in.

I'm also so happy for the city. We're obviously not DC. Or even Denver. But this town loves soccer. There's such an honest enthusiasm behind it. And after all the turmoil we've all been through, it was awesome to see our otherwise somber mayor lose his shit in pure joy at the announcement.

If it winds up that anyone wants to head this way to catch a match, do let me know! We're not all uncultured baboons out here. And barbecue aside, we craft some decent beer, too.
One of my wife's best friends lives in KC and is a season ticket holder for Sporting. I'll be putting in for tickets here in Foxboro, but probably also in KC. Have zero clue how the ticketing will work but hoping to get to a game in one place or the other!
 

Ale Xander

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Kansas City is indeed a great soccer market
And geographically it makes sense for a World Cup location. It can draw from St Louis, Iowa, Tulsa, Northwest Arkansas etc. all 4 directions
 

tims4wins

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Will the US get any say in terms of which venues they play in? Like I doubt they would ever pick Foxboro... but I feel like they'd love to play in KC?
 

Senator Donut

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Kansas City is indeed a great soccer market
And geographically it makes sense for a World Cup location. It can draw from St Louis, Iowa, Tulsa, Northwest Arkansas etc. all 4 directions
I'm sure the biggest sporting event in the world needs those Iowa, Tulsa, and Northwest Arkansas fans to buy tickets. This surely put their bid on top.
Will the US get any say in terms of which venues they play in? Like I doubt they would ever pick Foxboro... but I feel like they'd love to play in KC?
The pasty English and Welsh players might die on the pitch during a summer KC world cup match, so I support the idea.
 

axx

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I'm sure the biggest sporting event in the world needs those Iowa, Tulsa, and Northwest Arkansas fans to buy tickets. This surely put their bid on top.
Was kind of wondering about this... sure, any game involving the US or the "Brand Name" countries will sell out instantly... but will you get people to drive all the way out to Foxborough to see two countries that most Americans can't find on a map?
 

tmracht

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Was kind of wondering about this... sure, any game involving the US or the "Brand Name" countries will sell out instantly... but will you get people to drive all the way out to Foxborough to see two countries that most Americans can't find on a map?
Yes easily I know people that have been saving up since WC2026 was announced to get tickets to as many games as possible. It will sell out walking away.
 

Ale Xander

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I didn’t mean to imply any of the venues wouldn’t sell out, just that KC would attract from a “large square footage” of America

It’s literally (ok perhaps that’s Topeka) the center of the US and the other venues are mostly on the edges
 

Mr. Wednesday

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Will the US get any say in terms of which venues they play in? Like I doubt they would ever pick Foxboro... but I feel like they'd love to play in KC?
It's usually the case that the host is in a fixed spot in the draw (A1, I think). I'm not sure how they'll handle Mexico and Canada... probably divide them among three fixed spots? So they should have the U.S. game sites pre-planned. I'm not sure how much the USSF desires would play into setting up the draw.
 

The Talented Allen Ripley

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Was kind of wondering about this... sure, any game involving the US or the "Brand Name" countries will sell out instantly... but will you get people to drive all the way out to Foxborough to see two countries that most Americans can't find on a map?
The old Foxboro Stadium sold out all their games during the '94 World Cup, and America was far less interested in soccer back then than it is now.
 
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Jed Zeppelin

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One of my wife's best friends lives in KC and is a season ticket holder for Sporting. I'll be putting in for tickets here in Foxboro, but probably also in KC. Have zero clue how the ticketing will work but hoping to get to a game in one place or the other!
I’m a couple hours from Philly, a few hours from Foxboro, and 30 minutes from MetLife. I’ll take games wherever we can get them.

We also may be season ticket holders here by then. Father in law keeps hemming and hawing about passing off 2 of his 6 Giants tix to us because, well, he is stingy and likes the profits from selling them (even though we have offered to pay the full freight of the PSL). No idea if being ticket holders will convey any benefits or improved odds.

Longshot but a match featuring Greece at MetLife or Foxboro would be great (wife is Greek Cypriot and there are about 400,000 Greeks from Philly to Boston). I want to see full gyro spits at the tailgate. Bubble team that likely benefits from the expanded field.
 

Mighty Joe Young

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Do we know how they are assigning the groups to the various cities? Like giving the Canadian group games to Toronto and Vancouver? Same for the Mexican group games.

edit: guess there’s no way of knowing as this is an unprecedented situation.
 
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DennyDoyle'sBoil

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Tickets are purchased directly from FIFA from a worldwide lottery. I don't know what local allotment they give to the stadiums, if any, but judging from the "negotiations" with other cities and all of the concessions FIFA wants I bet it is very little.
Who knows if things will be different next time, but I've gone through the ticket process a few times and there is no allotment for the stadiums that are made available to the general public, so you'd need some kind of sponsor access.