By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said he expects soccer to be North America’s most important sport in time for the 2026 World Cup, as the tournament host cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico were announced on Thursday.

World football’s governing body FIFA has announced the 16 cities – 11 in the United States, three in Mexico and two in Canada – that have been selected from among 22 entries presented at a special event at Rockefeller Center in New York.

However, there was no indication of where the opening game or the final would be played.

“By 2026, soccer or football will be the number one sport in this part of the world,” Infantino boldly predicted as fans in the newly named host cities celebrated.

The United States, which hosted the tournament in 1994, will host matches in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami and New York/New Jersey.

Mexico, which hosted the World Cup in 1970 and 1986, will host matches in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey, while Canada, which is hosting the men’s event for the first time, will do so in Vancouver and Toronto.

“It was the most competitive process for a FIFA World Cup, we’ll bring the world here, we’ll have an exciting tournament,” Infantino said.

He added that no decision had been made on the venue for the final.

“There are still discussions to go on and we will definitely choose the best cities there also for the opener and the final, but every game will be a final in this World Cup,” Infantino said.

Cincinnati, Denver, Nashville, Orlando, Washington DC/Baltimore and Edmonton are the six cities that missed out.

UNDULATING FANS
Cheering fans waving American, Canadian and Mexican flags gathered outside the venue in New York, with US national team member and 23-year-old Chelsea striker Christian Pulisic among those present for the announcement.

Levi’s (NYSE:) Stadium in San Francisco held a private watch party and New York City Mayor Eric Adams was expected to attend a watch party at New Jersey’s Liberty State Park.

Canadian national team player and Toronto native Jonathan Osorio says as a child he couldn’t have imagined seeing a World Cup in his home country.

“It’s amazing – it’s amazing that the World Cup is finally coming to Canada…it’s an incredible achievement for the whole country,” he said.

Celebrities such as Michael Buble (representing Vancouver), Magic Johnson (Los Angeles), Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City), F1 driver Sergio Perez (Guadalajara) and Gloria Estefan (Miami) played on-screen messages celebrating the inclusion of their hometowns.The 2026 tournament is expected to break World Cup attendance records, which peaked at 3.6 million when it was held in the United States in 1994.

It will also be the first time that 48 teams will take part in the tournament, an increase from the 32 that will take part in this year’s event in Qatar.

“Being part of it (the Qatar World Cup) and then having one in this country is going to be amazing,” Pulisic said.