FIFA will announce the location of the 2026 World Cup Final at 3 p.m. EST on Sunday, as soccer fans await the tournament’s U.S. return.
New York and Dallas are among the rumored favorites for the final World Cup match.
MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where both New York NFL teams play, and AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, where the Dallas Cowboys play, are rumored to be favorites.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino visited MetLife Stadium and AT&T Stadium last year to watch games at both of the stadiums.
The entire tournament will take place in 16 locations across the U.S., Canada and Mexico but the final game will be played in the U.S. on July 19, 2026.
FIFA will stream the announcement on its website.
All 11 U.S. stadiums that will be used in the 2026 tournament are used for NFL games, though many have to change aspects of the fields. AT&T and MetLife are among the handful of stadiums that will have to replace artificial turf with grass ahead of the soccer matches. Some stadiums will also have to change the size of their field to match FIFA’s 75-by-115 yard field requirement for World Cup games. The Associated Press reported last month MetLife Stadium planned to remove 1,740 seats to widen its field enough to meet FIFA’s requirements.
The more than 100 games will take place at 16 locations—Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Monterrey, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver. The last time the U.S. hosted World Cup games was in 1994. That year’s final was hosted at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California, where the UCLA Bruins play. Meanwhile, this is Canada’s first time hosting the World Cup and Mexico’s third time.
MetLife Stadium To Remove 1,740 Seats For 2026 World Cup, Officials Hoping To Host Final (Associated Press)