| Lionel Messi C of Argentina celebrates after winning 2026 World Cup qualifier match between Brazil and Argentina at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Nov. 21, 2023. |
The match schedule for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada will be unveiled Feb. 4, FIFA announced Thursday.
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As part of the announcement, FIFA will also officially announce the site for the final, which sources have confirmed has been narrowed down to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
In the wake of report from The Sun in the United Kingdom on Wednesday that Arlington/Dallas had been selected, sources told ESPN on Thursday that neither potential host has been officially notified of a decision.
"We remain optimistic about our chances of hosting the FIFA World Cup 26™ Final," Monica Paul, the executive director of the Dallas Sports Commission, said in a statement Thursday.
"We continue to work with FIFA leadership to lay the groundwork as we prepare to host the largest FIFA World Cup™ to date and are eager, like the other host cities, to find out what matches will be assigned to us."
Earlier this week, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy told the Bergen Record/northjersey.com he was under the impression MetLife Stadium, the home of the New York Giants and New York Jets in the NFL, was still in contention to host the final.
"The World Cup is going to happen. The question is where's the final and what does the schedule look like," Murphy said. "I think our odds remain about where they've been. I would put it plus or minus 50/50."
The Feb. 4 announcement, which will be televised by Fox and Telemundo in the U.S., will include "host city match allocations for the 104 matches," FIFA said.
With the tournament expanding to 48 teams for the first time, there will be 16 host regions across the three countries: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle in the U.S.; Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey in Mexico; and Toronto and Vancouver in Canada.
