New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium to host 2026 World Cup final as Azteca gets opener

MetLife Stadium in New Jersey will host the final of the 2026 World Cup, which will take place in North America in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The 82,500-capacity MetLife Stadium is located in New Jersey but is five miles from New York City and is home to the NFL’s New York Jets and Giants. It hosted the Super Bowl in February 2014.

The tournament will be the first edition of the World Cup in the expanded format with 48 teams. The final will take place on July 19.

The first match of the World Cup will take place on June 11 at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, where the tournament opener has taken place twice before, in 1970 and 1986.

Canada’s first-ever Men’s World Cup match will take place on June 12 at BMO Field in Toronto, where the Canadian team’s opening match will take place. The 54,500-capacity BC Place in Vancouver will be the venue for Canada’s second and third group matches. “It’s important to work from coast to coast,” says Mauro Biello, Canada’s interim manager.

The US plays its opener on June 12 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, which hosts the opening ceremony of the 2028 LA Olympics and was the site of the Super Bowl two years ago. The US will play their final group match at the SoFi and their other opening round match at Lumen Field in Seattle, with the co-hosts remaining on the West Coast for the first three matches.

“You think of LA, an iconic football city, which has already hosted two World Cup finals, the men’s in 1994 and the women’s in 2003… there’s a lot going on in LA and SoFi Stadium is a great venue,” he said. American manager Gregg Berhalter. “Then I think of Seattle with its rich fan culture, loud atmosphere in the stadium… it will be an incredible atmosphere in all those stadiums.”

Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium will host the third-place playoffs. The semifinals will take place in Dallas and Atlanta, the quarterfinals in Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami and Boston. The round of 16 will be held in Vancouver, Seattle, Mexico City, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Philadelphia and New York/New Jersey. Each of the host cities will get a round of 32 matches, with the exception of Guadalajara and Philadelphia.

Dallas will host nine matches during the tournament, more than any other city.