I know 2021 only just began, but steps are being taken to finalize the hosting cities for the 2026 Fifa World Cup.
The 2026 World Cup is the first of it’s kind:
Which cities will be chosen to host the tournament?
This edition will have games played in 16 different cities spread throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The tournament will be held during the summer months of June and July, and is the first edition to include a group stage made up of 48 teams, which is a big step up from the usual 32 team formation.
Fifa plans to have 10 games played in both Canada and Mexico, while the Unites States will host 60 matches, including all knockout rounds. North Americans cities individually bid on hosting World Cup games back in 2018, and now phase 2 of the process begins. The objective is to shorten Fifa’s final list of 23 candidates to occupy the final 16.
Cities that have made the cut:
Canada:
- Edmonton
- Montreal
- Toronto
The United States:
- Atlanta
- Baltimore
- Boston
- Cincinnati
- Dallas
- Denver
- Houston
- Kansas City
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- Nashville
- New York / New Jersey together
- Orlando
- Philadelphia
- San Francisco Bay Area
- Seattle
- Washington D.C.
Mexico
- Guadalajara
- Mexico City
- Monterrey
What is Fifa looking at:
- Stadium Capacity
- Infrastructure
- Adaptability
The Olympic Stadium built east of downtown Montreal is Canadas largest with a capacity of 61,004, also can be expanded to seat 73,000.
Other stadiums that stand out above the rest are as followed,
Estadio Azteca Mexico City
– 87, 523
Los Angeles Rose Bowl
– 92,542
NY / NJ MetLife Stadium
– 82,500
Washington D.C. FedExField
– 82,000
Kansas City Arrowhead Stadium
– 76, 416
Houston NRG Stadium
– 72, 220
If your city is chosen to host some World Cup games, I suggest taking advantage of this once in a life time experience. For those of you who enjoy culture and excitement, you don’t necessarily need to love soccer to have a breathtaking experience… Literally.
Can you imagine being at a stadium with Iceland’s fans putting on their famous Viking war cry in support of their Nations team? You may find yourself joining in, it’s pretty intense but phenomenal.
Qualification is yet to begin, and it will only start after next years 2022 World Cup edition ends.
Why Montreal’s Government may have ruined Fifa’s original plans, and your fun:
The Quebec government has broken a previous agreement it had with the city of Montreal, which can justifiably prevent the city from being a host. The Coalition Avenir Quebec, CAQ, our provincial government is known to making unfavorable choices.
This is a province that has been dominated by an everlasting language war for hundreds of years now, and kind of lives in its own little bubble.
Considering Fifa is not backing hosting cities financially, our chances are now looking mightily slim.
The CAQ took a total U-turn by stating they will NOT financially support Montreal anymore
- They are reviewing other investment ideas in order to boost the economy
- Talk of ‘Festivals’ could mean: Just for Laughs, Jazz Festival, and all the same other repetitive ”Close to Home” events that we see each summer + don’t forget all the raves.
Quebec once again is in the picture for all the wrong reasons, here are some other times they have made global news.
- Fifa’s original plans include 3 Canadian cities, and 3 are on the final list, including Montreal. This is a slap in the face of the orginization
- The Province has banned the wearing of religious signs / objects in public role jobs.
- in 2013 they made International headlines because the ”Language Police” attempted to ban the word Pasta from an Italian restaurants menu. It backfired on the Government.
- The Provinces Bloc Quebecois recently suggested saying ‘Bonjour – Ho’ instead of the usual ‘Bonjour – Hi’. Apparantly it was meant to be more festive and to respect the primary language. ”Hoe” or Ho, has meant something a bit more derogative for close to the las 30 years. It seems the Francophones were clueless about this one.
A CAQ spokesperson stated the investment of just over 100 million would be hard to justify to tax the payers, which is understandable, but just GET IT DONE. Though I admit, there are two sides of the sword when it comes to hosting a World Cup.
One; it costs a sh*tload of money, clearly, therefore the city goes in debt for X period of time.
Two; fans from all over will be travelling and staying in hosting cities, this will overall boost the economy. Think about restaurants, hotels, shopping malls – all the places that have been desperately suffering. Even if it’s only 10 games, we are talking about at least a massive week, with the potential to be bigger than Grand Prix; on second thought it’s most likely going to be bigger.
We can only hope that 5 and a half years in the future would be a feasible time frame to return back to a somewhat ‘’normal’’. Meaning open borders, fans in stadiums and all that comes with it. Hopefully.
Montreal’s mayor Valérie Plante will be reviewing what this loss means with her other investors, and try to come up with alternative plans. I’m sure they could ask the Rizzuto clan, but the interest rate would kill them, literally.
As a citizen, who is finally proud of the new highway intersections and colourful bridges we put up, I am totally IN for my tax money funding a World Cup.
Think of it as an ongoing free travel industry advertisement, with everything on social media these days I looked it up, and #worldcup2014 is still banging close to 7 years later. Imagine the pictures tourists will be taking at the finest locations Montreal and its surrounding cities have to offer. People from all over will fall in love with what Montreal city, and Quebec have to offer.
For a place that thrives off of culture, there is nothing more multi-cultural than thousands of fans gathering to support their countries.
Montreal has until the end of February to solve this latest setback, as Fifa will start holding virtual one on one meeting’s with each candidate’s representative to discuss infrastructural aspects.
The 2026 Fifa World Cup is not something you want to miss!
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