If you are a soccer fan, the 2026 FIFA World Cup craze has surely taken over your life.
Starting next week, the biggest World Cup in history will be held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
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But why is the competition held in three countries? Al Jazeera finds out.
“Unite as one”
Initially, the United States, Canada and Mexico announced plans to make individual bids for the right to host the 2026 World Cup. But then they chose to join hands and raised the slogan “United As One.”
In 2017, the North American trio of soccer associations officially announced their partnership, naming it the “United Bid.”
A year later, at the 68th FIFA General Assembly in Moscow, Russia, FIFA member associations held a vote, with United’s bid ultimately winning 67 percent of the 200 votes cast.
With this, history was made as FIFA announced that for the first time in the tournament’s 96-year history, the World Cup would be held in three countries.
Expanded formats require more venues and larger infrastructure
FIFA’s decision to expand the number of participating teams from 32 to 48, and then add a final tournament, means that 104 matches will be played in 2026, the most in World Cup history, and 40 more than the total number of matches in Qatar 2022.
It is virtually impossible for a single country to host so many matches, opening the door to the idea of more countries coming together.
The joint bid by the United States, Canada and Mexico was also helped by the fact that the stadiums included in the bids were already built, did not require major construction work, and had an average capacity of more than 68,000 people.
Additionally, all potential host cities were found to have existing transportation, accommodation, medical, technology and other infrastructure that met or exceeded the requirements outlined by FIFA.
Fast forward to today, and the 2026 World Cup will be held in 16 stadiums in 16 cities, many of which will host games from the National Football League (NFL), Major League Soccer (MLS), and Mexico’s top football league, Liga MX.
Although hosting rights to the World Cup are shared among three countries, the United States has hosted 78 games, three times as many as Canada (13) and Mexico (13) combined.
The majority of high-stakes matches, including quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals, will be played in the United States.
2026 World Cup: The most lucrative sporting event
According to a World Trade Organization analysis, the 2026 World Cup is estimated to generate $80.1 billion in gross product for the three countries, including $30.5 billion in the United States alone.
As reported by the Guardian, FIFA’s latest financial report shows that soccer’s governing body will earn $13 billion in revenue over the four-year cycle culminating in the 2026 World Cup, of which around $9 billion will come this year.
By comparison, FIFA generated $7.5 billion in revenue through four years of commercial contracts related to the 2022 Qatar World Cup, and $6.4 billion in the 2015-2018 cycle leading up to the Russia World Cup.
The 2024 Paris Olympics will bring in $5.24 billion.
Simply put, the 2026 World Cup’s revenue will be spread across North America, making it the most lucrative sporting event ever.
regional cluster
To alleviate the logistical challenges of traveling across three countries, FIFA has divided its venues into three regional clusters:
Western region: Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles Central region: Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City Eastern region: Atlanta, Miami, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, New York/New Jersey
Teams most often play group games within one cluster, but this is not always the case.
For example, Brazil will play all of its Group C matches in the Eastern cluster, which spans New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Miami.
However, South Africa will begin their Group A campaign in central cluster Mexico City, but will have to travel east to Atlanta for the second leg before returning to Monterrey.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s group stage journey was the longest of any World Cup team, covering approximately 5,000 km (3,100 miles).
They will begin the tournament in Toronto and then travel 3,500 km (2,200 miles) to Los Angeles for the second game. The final group race will be held a further 1,500 km (900 miles) away in Seattle.
Some teams will take a break from traveling during the group stage, but if they advance further, there is a possibility that they will be tired from traveling from the final tournament, where games are spread across various regions.
The FIFA World Cup begins on June 11th. Check out Al Jazeera’s dedicated 2026 World Cup page for all the latest news, fixtures and live text commentary, and stay up to date with group standings, real-time results and schedules.
