Final match at Azteca Stadium in New York… First announcement from FIFA

This Sunday, FIFA unveiled the chosen venues for the opening matches and finals of the 2026 World Cup to be played in three countries (Canada, the United States, Mexico). The competition will start at the Azteca Stadium and the final will be played in New York.

FIFA said a little more about the 2026 World Cup this Sunday. The ceremony and the opening match of the 2026 edition of the World Cup, which will be contested by 48 teams from the United States, Mexico and Canada, and for the first time in history, will take place at the historic Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, during the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup between Argentina and England, made famous by Diego Maradona. Hand of God” scene.

The Azteca will be the first stadium in history to have the honor of opening the competition for a third time, after 1970 and 1986, the editions that ended in the same enclosure, during Brazil’s coronation by Pelé and Maradona’s Argentina respectively.

The final of the 2026 World Cup will be played in New York. MetLife Stadium, host of the New York Jets and Giants American football teams, is precisely located in East Rutherford, New Jersey (west of Manhattan), so Dallas and Los Angeles were the other cities considered to host the finals.

6 million supporters expected

The semi-finals of the next World Cup will take place in Dallas and Atlanta, FIFA added, in the presence of guests from all walks of life during its ceremony: comedian and actor Kevin Hart, Canadian rapper Drake, star Kim. Kardashian, or former Brazilian world champion Cafu.

“The fan experience will be incredible,” promised FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, the author, in a beige hooded jacket and white sneakers, about the announcement during a televised ceremony from Miami. Italo-Switzerland is hoping for “6 million supporters” and “6 billion viewers” for a more impressive tournament than ever before.

Canada will play its first match in Toronto on June 12 and the United States will play in Los Angeles on the same day at Sophie Stadium, before playing in Seattle, FIFA announced through Ginny Infantino during a televised ceremony attended by comedian Kevin Hart, rapper Drake, among others. and star Kim Kardashian.

The format of the competition has been expanded to 48 teams (divided into twelve groups of four), compared to 32 since 1998, for a total of 104 matches distributed between 16 stadiums already announced in 2022: Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Kansas City in the United States, Dallas, Atlanta , Houston, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami and New York; Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey in Mexico; Toronto and Vancouver in Canada.

The third place match will be played in Miami, where superstar Lionel Messi has been playing for Inter Miami since last year. The 36-year-old Argentine, winner of the previous edition in Qatar in December 2022, has not closed the door on an appearance in 2026. It is already expected in the Copa America, which this year was fought from June 20 to July 16 in the United States. , a sort of “East World”.