The 2018 World Cup may be less than 24 hours away, but all eyes in America are shifting toward the 2026 World Cup. On the eve of this year's competition, the games eight years into the future were awarded to a joint bid of Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The decision rewards the members of NAFTA during a time of increased political and economic tension between the North American nations.

Even President Donald Trump took a break from feuding with our neighbors to celebrate the 2026 World Cup effort.

The work for 2026 is just beginning, though.

Now a list of host cities will have to come to the forefront.

Choosing the host cities

As part of the bid, the committee that led the way had to put forth a plan in terms of how the division of hosting duties was going to work. The United States will host the majority of the competition. They'll host 60 games while Canada and Mexico each host 10 games. The Canadian cities likely set to host are Edmonton, Montreal, and Toronto; the latter two have teams that play in Major League Soccer.

Meanwhile, Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Mexico City will serve as the host cities for Mexico in the 2026 World Cup.

The United States has set forth 17 different cities that could potentially host competition during the 2026 World Cup, though not all are guaranteed to do so.

Among those are most of the major markets in the country, as well as most of the cities that currently field an MLS team, including two of the league's newest entrants, Cincinnati and Nashville. San Francisco is also involved, as is Baltimore.

Conspicuously absent from the Canadian list is Vancouver. Meanwhile, Chicago surprisingly didn't make the list of 2026 host cities in America.

The World Cup Final

At least one city knows they don't have to worry about their 2026 World Cup status. The New York/New Jersey tri-state hosting area will feature the final game of the tournament. That contest will take place at MetLife Stadium, home of the New York Jets and New York Giants. There are two Major League Soccer stadiums within the area, but neither can host a crowd as large as necessary for the World Cup Final.

The process for selecting the final venues for the 2026 World Cup isn't public knowledge. It probably won't be as intense as the recent and ongoing bidding going on across the nation for the newest Amazon headquarters, but any city would be delighted to host even a single game of soccer's greatest international tournament.
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