I hope you have caught your breath after this year’s FIFA World Cup. France’s win in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium marked the end of an era; the last World Cup with a classic format. After the 2022 Winter tournament in Qatar, the competition will be expanded to 48 teams (rather than the current 32).
For architects it is simple: more teams equals more games which equals more beautiful stadia. In this article, we'll take a look at the potential venues for “the United Bid” - where the U.S., Canada, and Mexico will join forces to host the world’s largest sporting event - showing the existing and proposed stadia, and the architects who designed them.
Before we reveal the list, it’s important to understand the factors that have influenced the decisions. The 2026 United Bid’s success was due in large part to the existing stadia and infrastructure that the three nations could offer, a stark contrast in comparison to the 2022 Qatar bid. This means we can predict with some accuracy the existing venues who are ‘host worthy:’ a 40,000 capacity is essential for each venue, according to FIFA, who also states that the city must be capable of having at least 5 games. We also know that 60 of the 80 games will be played in the U.S. and that 6 cities - Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey and Toronto, Edmonton, Montreal - have been confirmed as Mexican and Canadian host cities already. The remaining 10 spots will be chosen from the 17 U.S. cities that have been put forward as potential hosts, and the 2 venues of 80,000+ for the opening and closing games are yet to be chosen. The front-runners for this prestigious honor are HKS’s proposed Los Angeles Stadium, the MetLife Stadium, and the Rose Bowl - which hosted the last Men’s World Cup on North American soil.
USA
Atlanta / Mercedes-Benz Stadium / HOK, tvsdesign, Good Van Slyke Architecture, and Stanley Beaman & Sears
Baltimore / M&T Bank Stadium / Populous
Boston / Gillette Stadium / Populous
Cincinnati / Paul Brown Stadium / NBBJ
Dallas / AT&T Stadium / HKS Architects
Denver / Mile High Stadium / Stanley E. Morse
Houston / NRG Stadium / Populous and Houston Stadium Consultants
Kansas City / Arrowhead Stadium / Kivett and Myers, and Populous
Los Angeles / Rose Bowl / Myron Hunt
Los Angeles / Los Angeles Stadium Hollywood Park / HKS, Inc.
Las Vegas / Las Vegas Stadium / MANICA Architecture and HNTB
Miami / Hard Rock Stadium / HOK/360
Nashville / Nissan Stadium / Populous, and McKissack & McKissack
New York / Met Life Stadium / HOK, Bruce Mau, Rockwell Group, and EwingCole
Orlando / Camping World Stadium / HNTB
Philadelphia / Lincoln Financial Field / NBBJ
San Francisco / Levi’s Stadium / HNTB
Seattle / CenturyLink by Ellerbe Becket / LMN Architects
Washington, D.C. / FedEx Field / Populous
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Canada
Montreal / Olympic Stadium / Roger Taillibert
Edmonton / Commonwealth Stadium / Bell, McCulloch, Spotowski and Associates
Vancouver / BC Place / Studio Phillips Barratt, Ltd. and Stantec Architecture Ltd. (renovation)
Toronto / BMO Field / Brisbin Brooks Beynon Architects
Mexico
Mexico City / Estadio Azteca / Pedro Ramírez Vázquez
Monterrey / Estadio BBVA Bancomer / Populous, VFO and Federico Velasco
Guadalajara / Estadio Akron / Jean Marie Massaud & Daniel Pouzet, Populous and VFO architects
.jpg?1532298726 "The Stadiums That Could Host the 2026 World Cup Bid in the US, Canada, and Mexico")
