The long-awaited list of cities and sites for the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, was released on Thursday by FIFA, the world soccer governing body. Miami and Hard Rock Stadium has made the cut and we can’t be more excited!
Along with Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, and New York/New Jersey; Miami was one of 11 U.S. cities to make the list.
The televised announcement was watched on giant screens by a boisterous gathering of fans and elected officials at the famed soccer tavern Fritz & Franz Bierhaus in Coral Gables, which has historically been a hotspot for soccer watch parties in Miami. The notable in attendance included Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Mayor Francis Suarez, and Rolando Aedo, and the Chief Operating Officer of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Tommy Mulroy, a long-time local soccer promoter and former Miami Toros and Fort Lauderdale Strikers player, has been waiting for this moment for years and was ecstatic on Thursday after being a member of the failed Miami bid in 1994. “This is a long time coming. We fit every criteria. It’s a bicycle kick every criteria for us. It’s time and we’re going to do a great job. In 1994 people here didn’t know what a World Cup was. I had to convince people they would sell tickets. Even now, people think it’s another Super Bowl coming, but it’s so much bigger. I anticipate we’ll have five games and each game will bring a whole new group of tourists,” states Mulroy.
Sixty games are anticipated to be held in the United States, with ten games each in Canada and Mexico. Canada’s games will be held in Vancouver and Toronto, while Mexico’s will be held in Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Mexico City, where two World Cup finals were held at Azteca Stadium.
Each bid committee in the United States has been urged to prepare for up to six games, but they won’t know how many until 2023. Members of the Miami committee will meet with FIFA officials in New York City early next week, but no schedule or other specifics will be finalized until after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which will take place in November and December of this year.
According to Mayor Suarez, “The U.S. hasn’t had a World Cup since 1994, and in those 30 years, Miami has become a dynamic, global city. All the people who live here from all over the world will be rooting for their teams. A lot of hard work was done by a lot of people to make this happen. I feel like I played a game, I am all sweaty.”
FIFA used a complicated point system to evaluate the proposed sites, which included stadium (35%), airport/transport/mobility (13%), estimated revenue from tickets/hospitality packages (10%), estimated revenue from media/marketing rights (10%), predicted organizing costs (10%), proposed international broadcast center (7%), accommodations (6%), team/referee facilities (6%), and proposed FIFA Fan Fest locations (6%). (3 percent).
Hard Rock Stadium is well known for holding international sporting events such as the Miami Open tennis tournament and the Miami Grand Prix Formula One race.
The World Cup schedule will probably come out in 2023 with the actual team selections occurring in 2025. The tournament is set to begin on June 11, 2026, with the final scheduled for July 12. Each location would likely host five to six games, with a knockout round matchup thrown in for good measure.
The tickets will more than likely go on sale in 2024 and the estimated costs for all round is around $300.
