- FIFA’s decision on the location of the 2026 World Cup final appears to have been taken
- The organization is apparently also settling in Texas for the tournament
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
The 2026 World Cup final will take place at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, with FIFA choosing the venue ahead of New York’s MetLife Stadium.
According to The sunFIFA will confirm the choice later this week and the football governing body will also base itself in Texas for the 2026 tournament.
The tournament will expand from 32 teams to 48 for the first time, with a total of 104 matches to be played in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The report says a 72-match group stage could be completed in 15 days, with the top two teams from each four-team group, as well as the eight best third places, advancing to the knockout stages.
And all roads lead to Texas and the beautiful home of the Cowboys, who play the other football there.
AT&T Stadium in Texas will host the 2026 World Cup finals, ahead of MetLife Stadium
The stadium has 80,000 seats, but can be expanded to approximately 100,000 for major events
It has a normal capacity of 80,000 seats, but can be expanded to around 100,000 seats, something that will certainly be used for the World Cup finals.
More than 93,000 fans attended Sunday’s NFL playoff game against the Green Bay Packers, which the Cowboys surprisingly lost.
It cost approximately $1.3 billion to build and is located in Arlington, 25 minutes from downtown Dallas.
It opened in 2009 and has a retractable roof and artificial turf instead of grass. It remains to be seen whether this will also be possible for the tournament itself in just over two years.
Other major sporting events have also taken place there in the past: Billy Joe Saunders fought Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez there in 2021 and basketball is also held there. Taylor Swift also played three sold-out dates there during her 2023 Eras Tour.
MetLife Stadium – home to New York’s two NFL teams, the Jets and Giants – is actually located in Jersey, but with the Manhattan skyline in the background, the venue was tipped by many to make the finals.
MetLife’s regular capacity is slightly larger than AT&T’s at 82,500, but there is no room to expand further.
The first match of the tournament is expected to be held at the iconic Azteca Stadium in Mexico, where Diego Maradona scored his legendary ‘Hand of God’ goal for Argentina against England in the 1986 competition.
The stadium opened in Dallas in 2009 at a construction cost of approximately $1.3 billion
It has a retractable roof and the turf is – for now at least – artificial instead of grass
The massive venue is used for a variety of Texas sports, including basketball
While there is nothing in the FIFA rules that means this is guaranteed, the fact that Argentina would start the tournament there as defending champions would be a symbolic way to get the competition underway.
However, Lionel Messi is unlikely to be playing for Argentina by the time the tournament starts. The Inter Miami star will turn 39 on June 24, likely in the early to mid-season.
The United States will host the Copa America later this year, with the American team kicking off their tournament at AT&T against Bolivia.
The final of that competition will take place at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.