This week was pivotal in the world of soccer, as the future of the 2026 World Cup was defined. 

In four years, World Cup will be hosted by Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Four years after the United bid was seen as the perfect match to host the 2026 World Cup by the FIFA Congress in 2018, on June 16, the host cities of the 48 team, 80 match tournament were announced, with San Francisco/Bay Area being selected as one of the 11 cities in the United States. Games would be played at Levi’s Stadium.

Bradley Campos ’23 stated, “As a native San Franciscan, I am happy that we were selected as a host city for the 2026 World Cup.”

Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Canada’s Vancouver and Toronto, and Mexico’s Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Mexico City round out the 16 cities across the three nations. 

Washington D.C./Baltimore and Denver were considered as two big snubs not making the final cut, with Cincinnati, Edmonton, Nashville, and Orlando also on that list, but FIFA President Gianni Infantino seemed to confirm that a FIFA fanfest would be held at the nation’s capital, along the National Mall.

This World Cup will bring unprecedented opportunities to the North American continent, including a massive stimulus of local economies, like the Bay Area, with people all around the globe coming to the North American cities to cheer on their teams. Tourists flocking to hotels, eating at restaurants, shopping at local businesses, etc. will boost the economies of the host cities, putting them on the global map for hosting such an important worldwide event like the World Cup.

“This event will help the development of soccer in the Bay Area and help families come together to support their favorite team. It will increase tourism, and San Francisco may be even more recognized worldwide,” added Gerald Aguirre ’23.

Soccer is a continuously growing sport, especially in the CONCACAF region–the confederation where Canada, the US, and Mexico play. The final of the previous World Cup in Russia attracted a shattering 1.1 billion viewers worldwide. Infantino predicted that by 2026, soccer will be the number one sport in North America. When Fox Sports’ Rob Stone raised the NFL as an objector to Infantino’s assessment, Telemundo’s Andres Cantor countered it and labeled the 2026 FIFA World Cup as “80 Super Bowls rolled into one month.”

FIFA will now meet with the host cities to establish a timeline for the announcement of the number of games each city will host, and who will host the highly-anticipated World Cup Final. 

Bay Area and North American soccer fans are now looking forward to 2026 when the World Cup makes its triumphant arrival in  Canada, Mexico, and the United States of America.