(WSVN) – It’s official: Miami will be among the host cities for the 2026 World Cup.
Hard Rock Stadium was selected by FIFA among several other U.S. stadiums to host the tournament, which will be co-hosted with Mexico and Canada.
The U.S. will host 60 of the 80 games under FIFA’s plan, including all from the quarterfinals on.
In an interview with 7News back in 2018, President of the Miami Dolphins Tom Garfinkel believed the stadium would be a perfect choice, highlighting previous major soccer matches held there.
“We designed it to be a global entertainment destination,” he said, “I think it’s among, if not the best place to view soccer in the world now.”
The last World Cup held in the United States was in 1994, and this is the first time a joint World Cup will be held between three countries.
This will be the first 48-nation World Cup, up from the 32-team format used since 1998. In a tournament likely to run from June 11 to July 12, but possibly start and end a week later, there will be 16 groups of three nations. Each team will play two first-round games instead of three as part of an awkward arrangement in which one nation in each group opens against an opponent who will have already played. The top two in each group advance to a 32-nation knockout bracket.
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