The five-year push to get Cincinnati the right to host FIFA World Cup matches when the event in 2026 is jointly hosted in the U.S., Canada and Mexico will soon reach a final outcome.
FIFA, world soccer's governing body, informed the 2026 Cincy Local Organizing Committee (LOC) via a letter that host cities would be announced June 16.
“Over the last five years during the 2026 FIFA World Cup bid process, Cincinnati has had the opportunity to showcase everything we can offer to FIFA to host a world-class international event,” said Jeff Berding, co-chief executive officer of FC Cincinnati and 2026 Cincy LOC executive member in a statement. “We look forward to this final announcement on June 16.”
Locally, the process to host matches started in 2017 and has seen Cincinnati stay in the process even as major cities pulled their bids and others ran into significant hurdles that couldn't be cleared.
Seventeen U.S. stadiums in 16 regions in the bidding for the first-ever 48-team World Cup.
Three stadiums each in Canada and Mexico are expected to be used.
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Cincinnati's competition to host
Arlington, Texas - AT&T Stadium;
Atlanta - Mercedes-Benz Stadium;
Baltimore - M&T Bank Stadium;
Denver - Empower Field at Mile High;
East Rutherford, New Jersey - MetLife Stadium;
Foxborough, Massachusetts - Gillette Stadium;
Houston -NRG Stadium;
Inglewood, California - SoFi Stadium;
Kansas City, Missouri - Arrowhead Stadium;
Miami Gardens, Florida - Hard Rock Stadium;
Nashville, Tennessee - Nissan Stadium;
Orlando, Florida - Camping World Stadium;
Pasadena, California - Rose Bowl;
Philadelphia - Lincoln Financial Field;
Santa Clara, California - Levi's Stadium;
Seattle - Lumen Field.
Sixty matches will be played in the U.S., with Canada and Mexico staging 10 apiece.
All knockout-round matches starting with the quarterfinals would also be staged in America.
Upwardly-mobile FC Cincinnati helped renew interest in the professional game locally during that span, but the city has regional support from the public and private sectors that has elevated the bid.
FIFA delegates conducted a site visit at Paul Brown Stadium, as well as inspections of training sites around the region on Oct. 21 , and the rain was seemingly the only blemish on a day when top business executives and politicians from multiple states combined in what was thought to have been a successful effort to woo FIFA representatives.
It's thought in some corners that Cincinnati is in a head-to-head competition with Kansas City, Missouri to represent the Midwest region after Chicago withdrew its bid to host in 2018.
Cincinnati's World Cup bid is co-chaired by David Taylor, chief executive officer of Procter & Gamble, alongside Carl Lindner III, Co-CEO of American Financial Group and Majority Owner of FC Cincinnati, Barbara Turner, CEO of Ohio National Financial Services, and Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen.
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