We now know that Toronto, Ontario and Vancouver, British Columbia will host games during the 2026 World Cup according to Gemma Karstens-Smith of CBC. This World Cup is significant because it will be held in three different countries–Canada, the United States and Mexico.
A total of 14 other North American cities were announced. The cities in Mexico are Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara. The nine American cities are Seattle, Washington; San Francisco, California; Los Angeles, California; Kansas City, Kansas; Dallas, Texas; Boston, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Miami, Florida; and East Rutherford, New Jersey.
This will be the first time ever that Canada is hosting the FIFA World Cup in men’s soccer. Vancouver and Toronto were chosen over Edmonton. Canada previously the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
This will be the largest World Cup ever. There will be 48 teams participating, making qualification for the World Cup less prestigious because so many countries receive entry.
The fact that there are 16 groups of three teams each means each nation is only guaranteed two games. Then instead of having the winning team just qualify from the 16 groups, which would make each group game significantly more meaningful, the top two teams from each group qualify for the knockout round, which begins with 32 teams.
