CHICAGO — Forty-one cities in the United States, Mexico and Canada have submitted preliminary bids to host 2026 World Cup matches.
The North American bid committee said Thursday its proposal will be sent to FIFA in March. The bid is expected to include up to 25 cities. At least 12 cities would ultimately be selected if the FIFA Congress picks the joint bid when it votes in June 2018.
The 2026 World Cup will be the first with a 48-nation field. Morocco said it also intends to bid.
Three sites were dropped from the preliminary list announced last month: Calgary Green Bay, Wisconsin and San Diego.
Just three stadiums that bid hosted games during the 1994 World Cup: Chicago’s Soldier Field, Dallas’ Cotton Bowl and Orlando, Florida’s Camping World Stadium, formerly known as the Citrus Bowl. Soldier Field underwent a gut renovation in 2002-03.
Two of the sites on the list hosted matches at the 1994 at stadiums that have been replaced with new venues on adjacent land: East Rutherford, New Jersey and Foxborough Massachusetts.
Stadiums are required to have at least 40,000 seats for group-stage matches and at least 80,000 for the opening game and final.
Thirty-two areas and 35 stadiums are on the list for the U.S., Canada has six cities and Mexico three. The proposed Canadian venues include Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium, Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, Ottawa’s TD Place, Regina’s Mosaic Stadium, Toronto’s BMO Field and Vancouver’s BC Place.
Three stadiums were submitted from the Los Angeles area and two from the Dallas area. The U.S. would host 60 of 80 games, including all from the quarterfinals on.
The bidding stadiums:
UNITED STATES
Arlington, Texas, AT&T Stadium Atlanta, Mercedes-Benz Stadium Baltimore, M&T Bank Stadium Birmingham, Alabama, Legion Field Charlotte, North Carolina, Bank of America Stadium Chicago, Soldier Field Cincinnati, Paul Brown Stadium Cleveland, FirstEnergy Stadium Dallas, Cotton Bowl Denver, Sports Authority Field Detroit, Ford Field East Rutherford, New Jersey, MetLife Stadium Foxborough, Massachusetts Glendale, Arizona, University of Phoenix Stadium Houston, NRG Stadium Indianapolis, Lucas Oil Stadium Inglewood, California, LA Stadium at Hollywood Park Jacksonville, Florida, EverBank Field Kansas City, Missouri, Arrowhead Stadium Landover, Maryland, FedEx Field Las Vegas, Raiders stadium under construction Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Miami, Hard Rock Stadium Minneapolis, U.S. Bank Stadium Nashville, Tennessee, Nissan Stadium New Orleans, Superdome Orlando, Florida, Camping World Stadium Pasadena, California, Rose Bowl Philadelphia, Lincoln Financial Field Pittsburgh, Heinz Field Salt Lake City, Rice-Eccles Stadium San Antonio, Alamodome Santa Clara, California, Levi’s Stadium Seattle, CenturyLink Field Tampa, Florida, Raymond James Stadium
CANADA
Edmonton, Alberta, Commonwealth Stadium Montreal, Olympic Stadium Ottawa, Ontario, TD Place Regina, Saskatchewan, Mosaic Stadium Toronto, BMO Field Vancouver, British Columbia, BC Place
MEXICO
Guadalajara, Estadio Chivas Mexico City, Estadio Azteca Monterrey, Estadio Rayados.