x
Breaking News
More () »

World Cup soccer at AT&T Stadium? A North American 'united bid' hopes so

Dallas is part of a group of 23 North American cities included in a "united bid" for the 2026 World Cup.

Dallas is among a slate of 23 North American cities included in a “united bid” to host the 2026 World Cup.

The proposal includes AT&T Stadium in Arlington as a World Cup venue.

The “united bid” comes from the U.S., Canada and Mexico in an effort to bring the World Cup to North America for the first time since 1994. The United Bid Committee calls it “the most comprehensive and far-reaching hosting strategy ever developed for a mega- sporting event.”

Nineteen other U.S. cities are listed in the united bid, along with three Canadian cities and three in Mexico. If the countries were granted the 2026 World Cup, FIFA would select 16 host cities from the group of 23. See a list of all the proposed host cities at the bottom of this story.

AT&T Stadium has built a reputation as a soccer venue on the global stage in the last decade. It was a host venue for the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup, and FC Barcelona played exhibition matches there in 2011 and 2015.

The stadium has also hosted four straight years of the International Bowl, a tournament featuring 24 middle school and high school teams from around the world. Mexico’s national team will play a friendly against Croatia at JerryWorld later this month.

The United Bid Committee boasts the fact that the three North American countries would not need to build new stadiums to host the World Cup. New or recently-renovated were famously left to rot in the weeks after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

2026 will mark the first year of an expanded 48-team World Cup format. There will be 16 groups of three teams, with the top two finishers in each group advancing to a 32-team knockout round. The expanded format was agreed upon in a unanimous vote in January of last year.

Russia is the host country for this year's World Cup. Qatar is set to become the first Middle Eastern country to host the World Cup in 2022, despite controversy surrounding its hot summers and infrastructure needs.

Full list of host cities listed in “united bid” for 2026 World Cup:

United States

  • Atlanta
  • Baltimore
  • Boston
  • Cincinnati
  • Dallas
  • Denver
  • Houston
  • Kansas City
  • Los Angeles
  • Miami
  • Nashville
  • New York/New Jersey
  • Orlando
  • Philadelphia
  • San Francisco Bay Area
  • Seattle
  • Washington, D.C.

Canada

  • Edmonton
  • Montréal
  • Toronto

Mexico

  • Guadalajara
  • Mexico City
  • Monterrey

Before You Leave, Check This Out