Jun 16, 2022
Vancouver, Toronto to host FIFA World Cup 2026
The 2026 World Cup is coming to Toronto and Vancouver. FIFA made it official on Thursday when it announced the two Canadian cities among the 16 host cities for world football’s most prestigious men's tournament’s return to North America for the first time since 1994.
TSN.ca Staff
The 2026 World Cup is coming to Toronto and Vancouver.
FIFA made it official on Thursday when it announced the two Canadian cities among the 16 host cities for world football’s most prestigious men's tournament’s return to North America for the first time since 1994.
Co-hosting the tournament with the United States and Mexico, BMO Field and BC Place will be the sites of the first men’s World Cup games played on Canadian soil. The 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup was held in Canada with the final played in Vancouver.
A bid from Edmonton was not selected.
"We are very proud of Canada's candidate host cities for putting together substantial and compelling bids for the FIFA World Cup 2026," Canada soccer president Dr. Nick Bontis said in a statement.. "The competition for venue selection was the most robust in FIFA's history. Today's success is a testament to the cities, provinces, and federal government's commitment and dedication in pursuit of hosting the most prestigious single sporting event in the world. We congratulate Toronto, Ontario and Vancouver, British Columbia, we also wish to express our sincere appreciation to Edmonton, Alberta for their historic support and desire to contribute to the growth and development of our sport in this country by hosting FIFA competitions."
The Edmonton Elks expressed disappointment in their home city not being selected.
"As proud members of the Edmonton community we’re disappointed by the news that our city won’t play host to games during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. We know Edmonton would’ve been a tremendous host, as it has been so many times before for other premier sporting events," the team, and Commonwealth Stadium's main tentant, said in a statement. "We look forward to working with our partners at the City of Edmonton to ensure Commonwealth Stadium continues to evolve and is capable of hosting premier events, while also providing the best possible home for us as the stadium’s anchor tenant."
The number of games and exact schedules will be announced at a later date, but with the expanded field, the 2026 World Cup will feature a total of 80 matches, up from the 64 that will be played at Qatar 2022 this fall. Sixty of those matches will be played in the US, including everything from the quarterfinals forward.
In Mexico, the cities chosen were Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey.
Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City (the nearby Meadowlands, NJ), Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle will host the matches played in the US.
The 2026 World Cup will be the third played in North America and first since United States 1994. The 1986 World Cup, Canada’s only appearance at the quadrennial event prior to 2022, was held in Mexico.