Soccer fans will know by the end of 2021 if two of Texas' largest cities - Houston and Dallas - will be host cities for the 2026 World Cup.
On Tuesday, FIFA released its list of 23 candidate host cities in North America. The list includes 17 cities in the United States:
- Atlanta
- Baltimore
- Boston
- Cincinnati
- Dallas
- Denver
- Houston
- Kansas City
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- Nashville
- New York/New Jersey
- Orlando
- Philadelphia
- San Francisco Bay Area
- Seattle
- Washington
three in Canada:
- Edmonton
- Montreal
- Toronto
and three in Mexico:
- Guadalajara
- Mexico City
- Monterrey
FIFA officials will virtually meet with candidate cities in April and start in-person visits in July. The host cities will be announced sometime before the end of the year.
Sixteen cities will be chosen to host, and it's expected that three will be from Canada, three from Mexico, and 10 from the U.S., according to Sports Illustrated. Sixty games will be played in the United States, including the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals.
The last time the U.S. hosted the World Cup was 1994, and Dallas was one of five host cities. Matches were held at the Cotton Bowl.
Prior to the pandemic, both Houston and Dallas regularly hosted international friendly matches and tournament games.
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