The International Football Federation will announce on June 16 the cities designated to host the matches of the World Cup-2026, co-organized in the United States, Canada and Mexico, announced Friday the American Football Federation, in a press release "transmitted on behalf of FIFA".

"Fifa will make a major and highly anticipated announcement regarding the hosting of the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States, which will be broadcast live from New York.  are currently vying for the right to host games in the 48-team tournament," US Soccer said.

Candidate cities are: Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York/New Jersey, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC/Baltimore for the United States. United; Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey for Mexico; Edmonton, Toronto, Vancouver for Canada.

Sixteen of them will be selected for what will be the first World Cup with 48 nations. They will initially be split into 16 groups of three, with the top two qualifying for the knockout stage at the Round of 16 stage.

"In line with previous stages of the 2026 World Cup selection process, any announcements will be made in the best interests of football, taking into account the needs of all relevant stakeholders, as we aim to lay the foundations for an organized tournament. with success in all three countries," said Victor Montagliani, vice-president of Fifa and president of Concacaf (confederation of North America, Central America and the Caribbean).

While stadiums are an essential part of the selection process, FIFA says it takes into account other factors depending on the overall proposals presented by each candidate host city, such as sustainability, human rights, heritage, general infrastructure and financial impact.