Atlanta to Host World Cup Semifinal if United Bid Awarded 2026 World Cup

Staff Report From Metro Atlanta CEO

Tuesday, March 27th, 2018

Atlanta could host a World Cup semifinal if the 2026 FIFA World Cup is awarded to the United Bid of Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

That’s the headline from the official bid book submitted to FIFA. It shows the importance of the city to the bid, as one of just seven host venues with 75,000 seats or more available for the tournament, as well as one of the newest. The Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground in Marietta was also named an official training facility for teams that will be in Atlanta for the tournament.

Atlanta is one of 23 candidate host cities included in the most comprehensive and far-reaching hosting strategy ever developed for a mega-sporting event. Atlanta is thrilled at the possibility of welcoming the world to a united and inclusive celebration of soccer in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, offering an advanced and existing stage on which the world’s best players will compete.

Canada, Mexico, and the United States require no new stadium construction to stage the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Atlanta, along with the United Bid, will instead be able to work with FIFA to ensure the players, officials, and fans have an extraordinary experience at the largest FIFA World Cup ever staged.

Across every metric, the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America has the potential to deliver something extraordinary for Atlanta, North America, FIFA, and for soccer.

The United Bid’s final Candidate Host Cities are:

Canada:

Edmonton

Montréal

Toronto

Mexico:

Guadalajara

Mexico City

Monterrey

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 DC