Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City has been named as an official host city candidate for North America’s joint bid to host the 2026 World Cup, according to a statement released by the Utah Sports Commission.
"This opportunity aligns with our sport and legacy efforts and is another example of Team Utah coming together to bid on one of the largest sporting events in the World," Jeff Robbins, president and CEO of the Utah Sports Commission, said in an emailed statement.
Salt Lake City joins 31 other cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico that could host soccer matches for the sport's biggest event in 2026. A United Bid Committee with representation from all three countries is handling the process.
The bid will be officially submitted to FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, in March. FIFA will then choose where the World Cup will take place. The 32 cities will be included in the formal bid, but won’t necessarily end up hosting matches if FIFA chooses North America’s bid. At least 12 cities will be selected to host matches, according to the release, so the list of cities could be narrowed further.
Four cities in Canada, three in Mexico and 25 in the United States will be included in the formal bid. According to the bid committee’s press release, the list of 32 was winnowed down from 41 total cities that submitted host applications.
Rice-Eccles Stadium on the University of Utah campus would host matches if Salt Lake City is selected.
“As we move to the next stage of the bid process, we’re even more confident we have everything needed to deliver the largest, most compelling FIFA World Cup in history and help accelerate the growth of soccer across North America and around the world,” United Bid Chairman Sunil Gulati said in the release.
The full list of cities to be included in the bid is below:
— Atlanta
— Baltimore
— Boston
— Charlotte, North Carolina
— Cincinnati
— Chicago
— Dallas
— Denver
— Detroit
— Houston
— Kansas City, Missouri
— Las Vegas
— Los Angeles
— Miami
— Minneapolis
— Nashville, Tennessee
— New York
— Orlando, Florida
— Philadelphia
— Phoenix
— Salt Lake City
— San Francisco
— Seattle
— Tampa, Florida
— Washington, D.C.
— Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
— Montréal, Québec, Canada
— Toronto, Ontario, Canada
— Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
— Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
— Mexico City, Mexico
— Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
