A 21-member FIFA delegation wrapped up a three-day visit to Southern California on Sunday in which it studied the region’s ability to play host to games and other events for the 2026 World Cup.
“I think we put our best foot forward,” said Larry Freedman, LAFC’s co-president, who is co-chair of the Los Angeles World Cup Host Committee. “Hopefully we got the job done.”
The 2026 World Cup will be the largest in history, with 48 teams playing 80 games in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. FIFA, the governing body for global soccer, is considering a slate of 22 potential host cities for the tournament, 17 of them in the U.S.
FIFA is expected to choose the 16 finalists, 11 of which will be in the U.S., by the middle of next year. The delegation looked at two Southern California stadiums: the Rose Bowl, which hosted a men’s World Cup final in 1994 and a women’s final in 1999, and SoFi Stadium, the $5-billion home of the NFL’s Rams and Chargers.