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Bay Area Might Host 2026 World Cup

Levi’s Stadium is up against venues in 16 US cities. The 10 selected host cities will be named in late 2021.
By - posted 3/25/2021 No Comment

Thanks to KRON4 for sharing the news that the Bay Area has moved one step closer to hosting the 2026 World Cup.

On Tuesday, March 23, 2021, the Bay Area Host Committee participated in the Infrastructure Workshop phase of the host city selection process for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and pitched Levi’s Stadium as potential venue for the games.

In 2026, the World Cup will host 80 games in North America, with 60 games in the United States, spread across 10 U.S. host cities, and 10 games in Canada and 10 games in Mexico.

There are currently 17 US cities jockeying to be selected as a host city including: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York/New Jersey, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle and Washington D.C..

However, the proposed bid states that the final match has been allocated to New York/New Jersey (MetLife Stadium), the opening match will be held in Los Angeles or Mexico City, and the semifinals will be in host cities Atlanta and Dallas.

The next step in the process will be another virtual discussion with each of the 17 United States candidate host communities on overall hosting strategy beginning in April 2021. FIFA has also stated its intent to begin venue visits of candidate host cities in July 2021 in accordance with governmental health and safety guidance. Following the conclusion of those venue visits, FIFA is ultimately targeting late 2021 for announcing its 16 host community selections for the shared hosting duties of the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

The Bay Area was originally included as a Candidate Host Community for the FIFA World Cup 2026TM when the United Bid of Canada, Mexico, and the United States were selected to host the event after receiving 67 percent of the vote from all 200 FIFA member nations on June 13, 2018.

Levi’s Stadium has a history of hosting world class soccer events including CONCACAF Gold Cup, Copa America Centenario, International Champions Cup, US Women’s National Team “Countdown to the Cup.” Plus the Bay Area previously hosted the 1994 World Cup and from the 1999 Women’s World Cup Semi-Final at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto.

Read more at 2026 World Cup North America, Bay Area 2026, and FIFA World Cup 2026.