Philadelphia selected as 2026 World Cup host city
PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia joined a small group of American cities that will host soccer matches in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Lincoln Financial Field will host an unannounced number of games in the quadrennial international soccer tournament.
The U.S. will host 60 of the 80 games under FIFA’s plan, including all from the quarterfinals on. The 2026 World Cup will be co-hosted with Mexico and Canada, marking the first time three countries have shared the event.
The U.S. selections included none of the nine stadiums used at the 1994 World Cup. The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and Orlando’s Camping World Stadium were the only ones remaining in contention, and they were among the sites dropped in the final round.
New stadiums were selected in five areas used in 1994. AT&T Stadium in Texas replaced Dallas’ Cotton Bowl; SoFi Stadium in Inglewood took over for Pasadena’s Rose Bowl; and Levi’s Stadium instead of Stanford Stadium.
The host cities were divided into three sections: east, central and west.
- EAST: Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, New York/New Jersey
- CENTRAL: Kansas City, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Monterrey and Mexico City
- WEST: Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Guadalajara
Soccer fans in Philadelphia flooded LOVE Park to watch the announcement and erupted in excitement when Philadelphia was chosen.
"Twenty years ago, when Lincoln Financial Field first opened, we envisioned a world-class venue in a world-class city hosting world-class events," the Philadelphia Eagles CEO Jeffrey Lurie said in a statement. "Now we are proud to host the game's highest level of competition in front of a global audience."
While 2026 seems like a long way off, Philadelphia sports fans in particular have a lot to look forward to. Not to be forgotten, Citizen's Bank Park was selected to host the 2026 MLB All-Star Game.
The Associated Press contributed to this report