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2026 World Cup bid committee receives 41 host responses

Reuters/Stringer/Files Picture Supplied by Action Images

The 2026 World Cup bid committee has obtained 41 applications from cities across the United States, Canada, and Mexico to host matches for the quadrennial event.

Of the 44 cities reached out to in July, only Calgary, Green Bay, and San Diego did not respond to a request from the United Bid Committee, according to ESPN FC's Jeff Carlisle.

That leaves 32 cities in the U.S., six in Canada, and three in Mexico in consideration, with the committee set to unveil a shortlist in the fall ahead of the submission of a final bid to FIFA no later than March 16, 2018.

"The Host Cities will help define the United Bid. Each will offer the best facilities and infrastructure to stage the world's biggest single-event sporting competition, the FIFA World Cup, and together they will play a key role in the development of the sport in North America," United Bid Committee Executive Director John Kristick told ESPN FC.

"We're thrilled with the submissions that we have received, especially each city's commitment to innovation and sustainability, and we look forward to bringing the best group of candidate host cities together for our official United Bid."

It's expected that the list will be narrowed to 20-to-25 cities for the official submission to FIFA as the tournament expands to 48 nations for the first time.

In addition to McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, and Lambeau Field in Green Bay, the Rogers Centre in Toronto and Stade Saputo in Montreal have also been taken off the original 49-stadium list. Toronto's BMO Field and Montreal's Stade Olympique remain in contention.

Host venues require at least 40,000 seats for the group stage, and twice that to be considered for the opening match and final.

The remaining venues are as follows:

United States

City Stadium Capacity
Atlanta Mercedes-Benz Stadium 75000
Baltimore M&T Bank Stadium 71008
Birmingham Legion Field 71594
Boston Gillette Stadium 65892
Charlotte Bank of America Stadium 75400
Chicago Soldier Field 61500
Cincinnati Paul Brown Stadium 65515
Cleveland FirstEnergy Stadium 68710
Dallas Cotton Bowl 92100
Dallas (Arlington) AT&T Stadium 105000
Denver Sports Authority Field 76125
Detroit Ford Field 65000
Houston NRG Stadium 71500
Indianapolis Lucas Oil Stadium 65700
Jacksonville EverBank Field 64000
Kansas City Arrowhead Stadium 76416
Las Vegas Raiders Stadium 72000
Los Angeles Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 78500
Los Angeles LA Stadium at Hollywood Park TBD
Los Angeles Rose Bowl 87527
Miami Hard Rock Stadium 65767
Minneapolis U.S. Bank Stadium 63000
Nashville Nissan Stadium 69143
New Orleans Mercedes-Benz Superdome 72000
New York/New Jersey MetLife Stadium 82500
Orlando Camping World Stadium 65000
Philadelphia Lincoln Financial Field 69328
Phoenix University of Phoenix Stadium 73000
Pittsburgh Heinz Field 68400
Salt Lake City Rice-Eccles Stadium 45807
San Antonio Alamodome 72000
San Francisco/San Jose Levi’s Stadium 75000
Seattle CenturyLink Field 69000
Tampa Raymond James Stadium 73309
Washington FedEx Field 82000

Canada

City Stadium Capacity
Edmonton Commonwealth Stadium 56335
Montreal Stade Olympique 56335
Ottawa TD Place Stadium 24341
Regina Mosaic Stadium 30048
Toronto BMO Field 28026
Vancouver BC Place 55165

Mexico

City Stadium Capacity
Guadalajara Estadio Chivas 45364
Mexico City Estadio Azteca 87000
Monterrey Estadio Rayados 52237

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