The stadiums of the 2026 World Cup

Sixteen grounds across three countries carried the 2026 tournament, and only one of them was built for football: the rest are NFL bowls, a domed Olympic venue and three Liga MX homes, most of them stripped of their sponsor names for six weeks and handed a city name instead. What follows is the fourteen that mattered most to the schedule, from the Mexico City ground that became the first to stage World Cup matches in three separate tournaments to the New Jersey stadium whose pitch was the most argued-about surface of the summer. Each entry notes what the building was before FIFA arrived, when it went up, and how many matches it took.

Places in this collection

  • BC Place — Opened in 1983 on the north bank of False Creek and the main venue of the 2010 Winter Olympics, later refitted with a cable-supported retra…
  • BMO Field — The smallest of the sixteen venues at 45,000 for the tournament, sitting on the lakeshore at Exhibition Place and the first soccer-specific…
  • Estadio Akron — Opened in 2010 in Zapopan on the edge of Guadalajara as the home of Chivas, its bowl sunk into an earth berm planted with grass. It took fo…
  • Gillette Stadium — Opened in 2002 as CMGI Field on the Foxborough site south of Boston, shared by the Patriots and the New England Revolution, and signed as B…
  • Lumen Field — Opened in 2002 in a horseshoe plan with two long arched roofs visible from across the city, home to the Seahawks, the Sounders and the Seat…
  • Lincoln Financial Field — Opened in 2003 with a friendly between FC Barcelona and Manchester United, so the first match played in it was football rather than the Eag…
  • NRG Stadium — Opened in 2002 as Reliant Stadium and home to the Houston Texans, with a retractable roof and air conditioning that matter in a Gulf Coast…
  • Hard Rock Stadium — Inaugurated in 1987 for the Miami Dolphins and the venue with the longest football pedigree in the American group, having staged Copa Améri…
  • Mercedes-Benz Stadium — Opened in 2017 with a retractable roof of eight triangular petals and a shell rising to 93 metres, shared by the Atlanta Falcons and Atlant…
  • Levi's Stadium — Opened in 2014 as the home of the San Francisco 49ers and used for the Super Bowl before the World Cup came, with red seating through the l…
  • AT&T Stadium — Nine matches, more than any other venue in 2026, played under a retractable roof with air conditioning that made the difference through the…
  • MetLife Stadium — Opened in 2010 and shared by the New York Giants and New York Jets, it was rebranded New York New Jersey Stadium for the tournament and too…
  • Estadio Azteca — Opened in 1966 in Santa Úrsula, south of Mexico City, and the home of Club América and the Mexican national team. It staged the 1970 and 19…
  • Arrowhead Stadium — Opened in 1972 and the oldest of the eleven United States venues used in 2026, home to the Kansas City Chiefs and known during the tourname…

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