New York, June 17: The 16 cities of the first World Cup spread across three nations were revealed, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino made a bold statement summing up the goal of the 2026 tournament, to be played largely in the United States.
“By 2026, soccer – or futbol – will be the No. 1 sport in this part of the world,” he proclaimed.
Roughly four years before football’s showcase comes to the US, Mexico and Canada, there already were winners and losers on Thursday: Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Philadelphia, Seattle and Kansas City, Missouri, were among the cities picked after missing out on hosting the 1994 tournament.
Baltimore, Cincinnati, Denver, Nashville, Tennessee, and Orlando, Florida, missed the cut.
Eleven US stadiums were picked, all from the NFL. Arlington, Texas; East Rutherford, New Jersey; Foxborough, Massachusetts, and Inglewood and Santa Clara, California, were holdover areas from the 1994 tournament that boosted football’s American prominence.
Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, which hosted the 1970 and ‘86 finals, will become the first stadium in three World Cups, selected along with Guadalajara’s Estadio Akron and Monterrey’s Estadio BBVA.
Toronto’s BMO Field and Vancouver, British Columbia’s BC Place were picked for Canada’s first time hosting.
Following the withdrawal of outmoded FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, Baltimore’s omission means this will be a rare World Cup with no matches in the vicinity of a host’s capital. (AP)
