NEW YORK: FIFA President Gianni Infantino warned Canada, Mexico and the United States to prepare for a football “invasion” on Thursday as the host cities for the 2026 World Cup were revealed.
The first ever World Cup co-hosted by three different countries will also see a record number of teams taking part, increasing by 16 from 32 to 48 as the tournament returns to North America for the first time since the 1994 finals.
The 16 venues named on Thursday include 11 in the United States, three in Mexico and two in Canada.
All of the US games will be held in venues that are home to NFL teams, with the likes of the $5 billion SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and the New York Giants’ 82,000-seater MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford tipped to host the final.
A total of 60 of the 80 games in the tournament — including all knockout games from the quarter-finals onwards — will take place at US venues.
Mexico City’s iconic Azteca Stadium — host of the 1970 and 1986 World Cup finals — was included among three Mexican venues along with the cities of Monterrey and Guadalajara.
Vancouver and Toronto will stage the Canadian games in the tournament.
Infantino meanwhile said 2026 would eclipse the 1994 finals in the United States — which holds the record for the highest total attendance — in every respect.
“2026 will be much, much bigger,” Infantino said. “I think this part of the world doesn’t realize what will happen in 2026.
“These three countries will be turned upside down and then flipped again. The world will be invading Canada, Mexico and the United States.
“They will be invaded by a big wave of joy and happiness.”
Infantino said he hoped the World Cup would spur the development of football in the region further.
“In this part of the world you are leading the world in many areas. But in the number one sport in the world, soccer or football, you are not, yet,” he said. “The objective must be that you are leading the world in the world’s number one sport.”
A decision on which venues would host marquee matches such as the World Cup final and opening game had not yet been taken.
“We still have to discuss that, we still have to analyze that,” Infantino said. “We will take a decision in due course.”
However Infantino revealed that given the vast geographical spread of staging the tournament across North America, FIFA was looking at basing teams in regional “clusters” to minimize travel.
“When you’re dealing with such a large region as North America we need to care about the fans and make sure that teams are playing in clusters, that fans and teams don’t have to travel crazy distances,” Infantino said.
The list of US venues stretch from coast to coast, featuring several cities that hosted games in the 1994 World Cup finals. However no actual stadium venues from the 1994 tournament will repeat in 2026.
Other venues include the Dallas Cowboys giant AT&T Stadium in Arlington and the Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium. Seven of the 11 venues named Thursday have hosted the Super Bowl.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium — the loudest stadium in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records — also made the cut.
NFL venues in Seattle, San Francisco, Atlanta, Houston, Boston and Philadelphia were also on the list.
However there was no place for Washington D.C. on the venues list. It means the 2026 tournament will be the first World Cup since the 1974 finals in the then West Germany not to feature a host’s capital city.
Colin Smith, FIFA’s chief competitions and events officer, acknowledged Washington’s absence after an “incredibly competitive” bid process.
“This was a very difficult choice,” Smith said. “It’s hard to imagine a World Cup coming to the US and the capital city not taking a major role.”
Smith meanwhile said some of the NFL venues would require slight modifications to widen “pinch points” but said stadium capacity would not be affected.
“The number of fans who are going to be able to experience this World Cup will probably be double than what we’ve previously had,” he said.
“World Cup 1994 holds the record for attendance — and that’s going to be blown out of the water.”
FIFA vows ‘invasion’ as 2026 World Cup venues revealed
https://arab.news/8ww4f
FIFA vows ‘invasion’ as 2026 World Cup venues revealed
- The first ever World Cup co-hosted by three different countries will also see a record number of teams taking part
- The 16 venues named on Thursday include 11 in the United States, three in Mexico and two in Canada
T20 cricket set to dominate game’s landscape in 2026
- Inexorable rise of one of sport’s controlling forces
Following the end of the Ashes series in Australia, it has not taken long for cricket’s longest format — Test cricket — to be overwhelmed by the T20 format.
Apart from the 50-over Under-19s World Cup taking place in Namibia, it seems that, wherever one turns, there are only T20 tournaments.
Two explanations for this situation are the looming ICC Men’s and Women’s World Cups. The men’s event, to be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka, starts on Feb. 7, while the women’s tournament starts on June 12 in England.
The women’s event will comprise 12 teams, the largest number ever, of which eight have qualified already. The other four will emerge from 10 teams competing in a qualifying tournament in Nepal. This began on Jan. 18 and will end on Feb. 1. The teams have been divided into two groups of five and will play each other once. Group A comprises Bangladesh, Ireland, Namibia, Papua New Guinea and the US, with the Netherlands, Nepal, Scotland, Thailand and Zimbabwe in Group B. The top three teams will qualify for the Super Six stage in which the three teams from Group A will play the three teams from Group B. Points earned against the other two qualifying teams from each group are carried forward. The top four teams at the end of the Super Six will qualify for the World Cup in June.
The four highest-ranked teams in the competition are Ireland, Bangladesh, Scotland and Thailand. They are expected to progress to the Super Sixes but it remains to be seen if each of them will reach the main event in June. Thailand will probably face tough challenges against Ireland and Bangladesh in the Super Six stage. The Thai team are in good form, having triumphed in the ICC Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy and won double gold medals in the women’s cricket competitions in the SE Asia Games at the end of 2025. This form has continued into the tournament with victories over Nepal and Zimbabwe, but sterner tests lie ahead.
Players who are squad members of teams who have qualified for the World Cup are warming up in different ways. A number are currently involved in India’s Women’s Premier League, which is halfway into its schedule and will conclude on Feb. 5. In New Zealand, the Women’s Super Smash concludes on Jan. 31, while in South Africa the CSA Women’s Pro20 will resume on Feb. 8. There are upcoming bilateral tours by India to Australia in late February, Pakistan to South Africa in February, Zimbabwe to New Zealand in March, followed by South Africa. No doubt other matches will be arranged once the identity of the final four qualifying teams is known. Immediately prior to the World Cup, formal warm-up matches will take place at three venues in England and Wales.
The need for preparation is even more pressing for those involved in the men’s T20 World Cup, which comprises 20 teams. The Big Bash League in Australia allows four overseas players in each 18-man squad. In 2025/26, English players represent the bulk of non-Australian players, followed by players from Pakistan and New Zealand. The South African World Cup players are fully engaged in SA20, in which 19-man squads are allowed to contain seven overseas players, four of whom can be selected for a playing 11. English players are well represented. The Bangladesh Premier League will conclude on Jan. 23. Indian players with central contracts are not allowed to participate in franchise leagues outside India. Their World Cup players will feature in a T20 series against New Zealand that started on Jan. 21 in Nagpur. It followed an ODI series which was won by New Zealand. England start a three-match T20 series against Sri Lanka on Jan. 30, following three ODIs.
Outside of the leading countries, it can be difficult for players and teams to gain enough game-time preparation. Some of the UAE players participated in the DP World ILT20. Their next international action is a two-match series on Jan. 29 and 31 against Ireland in Dubai, where Afghanistan currently have a three-match T20 series against the West Indies, who then play a series against South Africa. Ireland will remain in Dubai where they will play three T20 matches against Italy, who are making their first appearance in a World Cup.
Australia will visit Pakistan and play three T20 matches. Teams such as the US, Canada, Oman, Nepal, Namibia and the Netherlands appear to have limited match preparation opportunities.
At least they do not face the uncertainties of Bangladesh. In early January, in a further example of the use of cricket as a political weapon, the Indian authorities excluded the Bangladeshi cricketer Mustafizur Rahman from the 2026 Indian Premier League, amid rising tensions between the two countries. Rahman had been bought at auction by the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise, which is owned by Shah Rukh Khan, the Indian actor and film producer, who was born into a Muslim family. Following this decision, the Bangladesh Cricket Board requested that the International Cricket Council move matches involving Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup out of India, citing the “safety and well-being of the players.”
Discussions ensued between the parties. Independent security assessments were commissioned by the ICC, along with comprehensive venue-level security plans and formal assurances from the host authorities. These were shared with the BCB. All assessments consistently concluded that “there is no credible or verifiable threat to the safety or security of the Bangladesh team in India.” On Jan. 17, the BCB suggested a swap of their matches with those of Ireland, whose group matches are to be played in Sri Lanka. The suggestion was rejected. At an emergency meeting of the ICC’s board on Jan. 21, 14 out of the 16 members voted against Bangladesh’s request. It is assumed that, apart from Bangladesh, the other vote in favour was from Pakistan.
It appears that the BCB’s attempt at a hardline stance has backfired. It must now either accept to play in India or withdraw from the competition, with significant loss of face either way. If it withdraws, a replacement team need to be introduced. The next-best-ranked T20I team are Scotland, who will have even less time to prepare than the other 19 teams.
Once again, a major international tournament has been disrupted by geopolitics. It is also the case that, once again, almost everyone has fallen in behind the combined power of the ICC and the Indian board. This stranglehold and the inexorable rise of T20 cricket are now undoubtedly the controlling forces shaping cricket’s future landscape.
