The 2026 World Cup begins in Mexico City and ends in New Jersey

Dhe 2026 soccer world champion will be crowned in the Big Apple. As the world association FIFA announced during a major live show on Sunday evening, the final of the final tournament in the USA, Mexico and Canada will be played on July 19, 2026 at the MetLife Stadium of the New York Football Club in New Jersey. The opening game kicks off in Mexico City’s famous Aztec Stadium.

The final of the 100th Copa America between Argentina and Chile took place in 2016 in the football stadium of the New York Giants and New York Jets in the 10,000-inhabitant community of East Rutherford, just outside the metropolis. In the professional football league, the arena offers space for 82,500 spectators. Most of the 104 World Cup finals games, namely nine, will be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, near the Texas metropolis of Dallas.

USA starts in Los Angeles

Meanwhile, with the opening game on June 11, 2026, the Aztec Stadium in Mexico’s capital will become the first arena in World Cup history to host games in three finals. Both the 1986 World Cup with the famous “Hand of God” by Argentina legend Diego Maradona in the quarter-finals against England and the 1970 finals with the German “game of the century” in the semi-finals against Italy took place there.

The USA will play their opening game on July 12th in Los Angeles, and further American games will take place in Seattle. Canada starts in Toronto. Overall, with eleven stadiums, the USA has the most arenas for the mammoth World Cup, which will be held for the first time with 48 teams. In Mexico, in addition to Mexico City, there are two other venues in Guadalajara and Monterrey, and in Canada there is Toronto and Vancouver. While Mexico is hosting the Men’s World Cup for the third time and the USA for the second time, the tournament will be a first for Canada.