FIFA’s 2026 World Cup stadiums, Seattle hosts LAFC
Friday’s soccer news starts with FIFA announcing the 16 stadiums that will host games during the 2026 World Cup. Toronto’s BMO Field and Vancouver’s BC Place for Canada, Guadalajara’s Estadio Akron, Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, and Monterrey’s Estadio BBVA Bancomer for Mexico, and Arlington’s AT&T Stadium (Dallas), Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, East Rutherford’s MetLife Stadium (New York/New Jersey), Foxborough’s Gillette Stadium (Boston), Houston’s NRG Stadium, Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium, LA’s SoFi Stadium, Miami Gardens’s Hard Rock Stadium (Miami), Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, Seattle’s Lumen Field, and Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium (San Francisco Bay Area) for the United States.
With the list already reduced, FIFA didn’t select Edmonton (Commonwealth Stadium), Baltimore and Washington DC (M&T Bank Stadium), Cincinnati (Paul Brown Stadium), Denver (Empower Field), Nashville (Nissan Stadium), Orlando (Camping World Stadium), Nashville (Nissan Stadium), or LA’s separate Rose Bowl bid.
“We congratulate the 16 FIFA World Cup Host Cities on their outstanding commitment and passion,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a press statement. “Today is a historic day – for everyone in those cities and states, for FIFA, for Canada, the USA and Mexico who will put on the greatest show on Earth. We look forward to working together with them to deliver what will be an unprecedented FIFA World Cup and a game-changer as we strive to make football truly global.”
To give an idea of what 30 years means when it comes to stadiums in the United States, three of the nine venues used for the 1994 World Cup no longer exist (the Silverdome, Giants Stadium, Foxboro), two have been rebuilt (Soldier Field and Stanford Stadium), one renovated (Citrus Bowl now Camping World Stadium), and one closed (RFK Stadium).
ESPN’s look at the 2026 World Cup cities. SI’s Brian Straus also works through FIFA’s stadium choices. The Athletic’s Pablo Maurer and Sam Stejskal on FIFA not selecting the Baltimore/DC bid. Yahoo Sports’ Henry Bushnell also asks about the Baltimore/Washington bid.
Moving to the return of Major League Soccer’s full weekend schedule, one game stands out for obvious reasons. Seattle hosts LAFC on Saturday in a game available on national television. It’s a matchup that is more than 7th-place hosting 1st-place. The Sounders turned around a three-game losing streak, winning four of their last five. With a game in hand, they’re still 10 points behind LAFC. What isn’t as clear is the potential of the Concacaf Champions League winners.
Seattle may be the biggest question in the Western Conference, with the expectation that they’ll eventually be back near the top of the table. How they might get there is interesting, with three games left in June and all at home. After LAFC, Seattle hosts Sporting Kansas City and Montreal. That will finish off a five-game homestand that began with a 2-1 win over Charlotte on May 29th. With six games in July, Seattle will close out that month at LAFC. The eight games in between could show us how substantially things can change in the West.
WEEKEND SOCCER TV
Saturday has the USL Championship on ESPN: Detroit vs El Paso at 12pm. MLS on ABC: Seattle vs LAFC at 3pm. LA Galaxy vs Portland is on ESPN at 5pm. Fox Deportes has the Atlas vs Chivas friendly at 6pm and the Monterrey vs Santos Laguna friendly at 9pm.
Sunday has MLS on ESPN2: Atlanta vs Inter Miami at 3pm. Nashville vs Sporting Kansas City is on FS1 at 6pm. TUDN has the Club America vs UNAM Pumas friendly at 6pm.
No games on Monday’s schedule All Times Eastern
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Photo by Howard Smith – ISIPhotos.com
