Brit Reacting to THE US Stadiums for FIFA World Cup 26 

Mercedes Benz stadium in Atlanta is supposed to have its field converted from artificial turf to real grass in time for the World Cup. I hope the change is permanent because I’m convinced that artificial turf is the reason both our major league soccer team and NFL teams struggle to stay healthy it seems almost every year.

Seattle's stadium is incredible. I've been there for many Sounders matches, concerts, Seahawks games, and a WC qualifier back in 2013.

Mexico plays a lot of their home friendly matches in the US because of the huge Hispanic population. They will sell out the matches and make a ton of money that way.

"They wouldn't use a baseball stadium it's the wrong shape" ooooohhhh booyy NYFC would like to talk haha

The XFL still exists but they merged with the USFL and now called the UFL United Football League which is the ultimate spring league which is awesome 😎

Pennsylvania is going to host a game on July 4 for the 250 anniversary of the signing of the Declension of Independence.

British people: why don't Americans stadiums have "roofs" on thier stadiums? Americans: we have better looking Skys!😊 ☁️ 🌤 🕊 🦅

Major League Soccer has soccer only stadiums in most MLS cities. Those stadiums are under 30, 000 seats. Some like in Philadelphia have capacities of 20,000.

US and Canada don’t really have a “national” stadium that hosts the national team. Teams play all over. Often depends on opponent and season. USA will always play Mexico away from the border and in the cold if they can :)

I think this is the first ever World Cup where they didn’t need to build any new stadiums

Yes MetLife is the final match in World Cup. Between Dallas Stadium and Giants Stadium the stadium in Jersey comes out on top because it’s accessible meaning trains buses and cars training facilities are right there and New York is the largest media outlet of anywhere

America has about a dozen College sports stadiums that hold over 100,000 people. So America could host a world cup just at college stadiums and it will be the biggest ever

In the US our football stadiums are traditionally not covered because weather is supposed to be a factor in the game and only true fans will sit through rain, freezing temps, high winds, and everything else nature can conjure up

Houston,Texas NRG Stadium is hosting 7 games and I plan on going to couple games if I can. I live in Houston and have gone to Real Madrid vs Man United this past year. Houston is always hosting biggest soccer clubs in the world during summer tour.

13:09 the field in the Seattle stadium runs north/south. So the view of the city is directly north and the sun would be setting to the left in this photo, over the water.

FIFA was stuck between Dallas and NYC/NJ for hosting the final but I think the main deciding factor was that NYC is a more iconic and global city, as well as the time zone that is more favorable to Europe and Asia.

I live in NYC and I honestly don't know why they would choose MetLife stadium for the final. It's by far the least esthetically pleasing of the newer stadiums. My only guess is because of the time difference between Europe and the US, but honestly they didn't care about the difference in time when it was done in Asia or Europe with the US. SoFi or JerryWorld would've been much better options.

Speaking as a New Jersey native, summers here can be pretty hot and humid, although it shouldn’t be too bad for hosting games and the Final. That said, I’m from further south in the state, so the local stadium from my perspective is the Linc in Philadelphia. What’s cool is that around the same time, MLB’s all star game will be played across the street at Citizens Bank Park where the Phillies play. Both events happening during the USA’s 250th in the city where it pretty much all began. I may have to consider checking out a World Cup game if I have the chance.

Im european, and I love the Mexico stadiums 🤘

So some additional info about these stadiums- the Azteca was never going to get the final. Even before the bid was submitted back in 2018, the deal was that the US would host the last 8 matches. New York had been the favorite for a while. Guadalajara's stadium is pretty cool- it's not the the same one as used in 1970 and 1986 (that was the Jalisco Stadium, which still exists). But I'm not so sure about Guadalajara hosting matches for this tournament. There is so much drug cartel violence in Jalisco Province right now that it would be a bit of a risk to host matches there. If it does get dropped it will probably be replaced with the black indoor stadium in Las Vegas which just hosted the Super Bowl. Monterrey's stadium is beautiful but this IMO is the riskiest venue of the lot, because the weather is incredibly hot during the summer there- it regularly goes past 100 F there, and it is an open-air stadium. Hopefully they will host matches at night with teams from hot-weather countries, like ones in Central and South America, Africa and the Middle East. The cities where association football/soccer are most popular are Seattle, Kansas City and maybe Atlanta. Lumen Field in Seattle is an absolute banger of a stadium- that will go down as one of the more popular venues used for this tournament. It is used by both the Seahawks NFL team and the Sounders MLS club, like Atlanta's stadium is shared by the Falcons NFL team and the United MLS team The enclosed stadiums, the ones in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta and Vancouver are all climate controlled and events are all run at room temperature at those venues. This is especially important in the former 3 stadiums because all those cities have summer weather that is very hot and humid- in Dallas and Houston's cases, weather that regularly goes past 100 F, and whereas Dallas is drier, Houston is humid; and Atlanta is also very hot in summer- the mid 90s F with high humidity. Anyone who goes to matches in Dallas, Houston and Atlanta will be thanking their lucky stars that matches played in those cities are indoors, shielded from the brutal weather. When the World Cup was last here in '94 some matches were played in the open-air Cotton Bowl in Dallas, and of course, it was anywhere between 95 to 105 F during all the matches except for the last one there. The SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles is open air; it has a very high-tech canopy that shields people from the sun. And that specific area of LA is perfect for sports matches year round because the areas of LA near the ocean are always very comfortable- 65 to 80 degrees with dry temperatures all the time. Hard Rock Stadium in Miami is also open air but has a canopy protecting everyone but the pitch from the torrential late afternoon rain Florida gets in summer. And yes, the open-air stadiums won't have partial roofs or canopies installed, because they don't need them, and they wouldn't be able to fit them without design issues and cost overruns.

6:30 Regarding the renovations, many NFL teams are renovating their stadiums right now. For those hosting World Cup Matches, it’s just one factor among many.

I’m from North Texas, and we were so MAD when NY/NJ got picked over Arlington for the Final. We get that NYC is the city of cities in our country, but we DO have climate control and I’ve been to New York during summer; it’s hot because of all the concrete and stinks so bad. People just throw their trash out on the sidewalks and it just rots and the subways are disgusting. Yes, we need cars here but Department of Transportation, Texas Highway Patrol and Metroplex towns in general are working for smooth here-and-there movement for tourists and fans already. I hope FIFA eats their underwear for not picking us!!! 🤬 Edit: About the Mexican National Team…Darlin’, this is TEXAS. 😂 We boast a HUGE Mexican American population, and they played their friendly against Australia in September, I believe, at AT&T Stadium and it was a sellout. We also have a large Korean American community (Atlanta’s is slightly bigger) so if we get South Korea in one of our matches, it will be a Red Devil hell for their opponents!

Definitely hoping USA gets a knockout round game in Kansas City! KC fans are loud and passionate about both forms of football. I will be there!

The Toronto, Atlanta, Seattle, and Vancouver stadiums host the Major League Soccer (MLS) teams. I'm surprised you haven't reacted to any MLS videos in the past. The Mexico national team plays a lot of games in the States, usually in California and Texas, because the federation can make a lot of money from the millions of Mexican-Americans that live in the States. I live in Portland, Oregon, so I will definitely be attending the USMNT's group stage matches in Seattle and LA.

I grew up in New Jersey. New Jersey in the summer can be very humid and sometimes thunderstormy. But Late june /early to mid July should not be too terrible (for June/July in Bergen county (where metlife is) the average daily high temp is in the range of 27C-30C). I love New Jersey and i hope the rest of the world in 2026 loves it too.

I love how excited you Brits are getting checking out our NFL stadiums lol

I don’t know what “Boston” Stadium is, but Gillette Stadium undergoes regular upgrades every few years to keep it state of the art.

I live 1.5 hours from ATT Stadium near Dallas, TX. I plan on going to as many as games as possible. This is a once in a life time event so close to home.

A lot of the best Stadiums are not participating, US Bank Stadium was briefly considered, but FIFA's demands were so outragious that Minneapolis(and Chicago for the matter) withdrew bids.

Getting to BC place is very easy to get to from the airport, ferry and highways. It’s in the heart of Vancouver. Beautiful stadium and everyone always has a great seat. And the food is great.

Lincoln Financial in Philadelphia is hosting on July 4th, Independence Day 🇺🇸. It also hosted a “friendly” (have no idea what that means) between Mexico v Germany this past October. It was crazy because at the same time that game was going on, The Flyers (NHL) had their home opener and the Phillies (MLB) were playing a championship game (NLCS) - ALL in the same parking lot, at the SAME TIME! All 4 of the pro sports teams (3 stadiums/arenas) are right next to each other and share parking lots. The local MLS team is not in Philly, it’s in a suburb far away.

My first dim memory of soccer is the final of the last World Cup that was held in the US in '94. My dad was watching it, having once been a foreign exchange student in Italy. He was disappointed in how it went down.

From 1993 to 2011, Hard Rock Stadium (Miami) also hosted the Florida/Miami Marlins.

Yes. Outdoor views like that are epic beyond imaginations.

We got you don’t worry! We keep these stadiums updated every few years!

There no Boston stadium. Gillette Stadium is in Foxboro, about 20 miles from Boston.

Sofi stadium in LA from what i know is no longer going to be a host stadium due to the size of the pitch and owner didnt want to change to fit FIFA standards

Sun sets looking left so it provides a dope ass city backdrop for those early evening Seattle Sounders matches.

Dallas & Houston have hosted the Mexican national team because there are so many Mexicans living in the south. Sadly they are still more popular in the US than the US national team.

Dallas is only a couple hours from the Mexican boarder, plus lots and lots of Spanish/Mexicans in Texas.

A few years ago I got to watch an exhibition match between Man Utd and Man City here in Houston at the stadium shown here. It wasn’t quite the same as seeing a derby in Manchester would be, but who knows if I’ll ever get to see that. Having the chance to see them here was great.

In the Philadelphia stadium the view at night is so crazy. The skyline of downtown Philadelphia and then the passion in the seats. It’s a crazy atmosphere.

Apparently Brazil is playing Mexico at Texas A&M’s Kyle field for a friendly match or something this summer! Imma try and get tickets even though I don’t normally watch soccer simply because it’s on campus lol

Not using the University of Michigan's Big House for a match is INSANE. It's the biggest stadium in the US. It would have been great!

I see you got surprised hearing that Dallas hosts the Mexico national team. It’d be more surprising for you to hear that Mexico actually plays most of their games in the US, most of their friendlies and then whenever there’s a regional tournament(Gold Cup/Nations League). 95% They use those huge NFL stadiums as Mexico fills them up almost all the time doesn’t matter what city. I think it’s the only country in the world that plays at “home” in two countries. Reason why when during WC qualifiers and the US has to play at home the US federation takes the game up to Ohio where there’s not a lot of Mexican people. Keeping in mind it’s rare that the USMNT fills up or even uses NFL stadiums while Mexico does in their own country.

2:48 there's no such thing as a "national team stadium" in Canada or the US. AFAIK, the only international play the countries play in is something like a world cup and/or their qualifiers.

There are six knock-out games scheduled for venues outside the United States. Some stadiums are being renovated to bring in natural grass. SoFi and ATT (LA and Dallas) must have seats removed to fit a field of World Cup size. New Jersey summer weather?? The final will be played in at least 85deg F temperature with 50-80% humidity. (Heat index of 95deg F.) That game will be slog. Legs will be gone at minute 55-60. Some fans will be carried out with heat stroke. Best World Cup ever? Group stages will be weak with diluted teams and 50% of third place teams qualifying for knock-outs. Far less in the way of thrills as in Qatar. This tournament will not start until the round of 16.

Not every American Football stadium can accommodate a 68m wide pitch...

I can't not wait for this, I'm saving up money to attend games. Hoping I get to see Team USA! 🤞

The Dallas stadium has hosted the U.S. v Mexico is what was implied

MetLife is actually the biggest stadium in this World Cup. The only catch is other stadiums will be able to expand seating, but their field size and field architecture would not be habitable for a World Cup final. However, MetLife currently has the most seats out of these stadiums and a correct pitch

This world cup will be legendary

That view at Lumen field is to the north so the sun sets to the left. Night games feature the buildings lit up in the background. The major issue with Lumen will be the traffic and not a lot of hotels within walking distance. There is also the rampant homelessness and crime since the local politics have embraced policies of appeasement and leniency towards criminal behavior. The traffic getting to and away from the stadium is atrocious on a given Tuesday, it will flow like mud during these games. Accommodations and traffic are the two major reasons why the NFL have yet to let Seattle host a Super Bowl.

USA 1994 still holds the World Cup record for average attendance and total attendance for the event. This was back when there were only 24 teams in the tournament. No doubt both records will be broken in 2026.

More athletes have been injured on the Giants/Jets Met Life stadium than any other field.

The first stadium is Toronto Fc and they are also going to expand for more seating for the World Cup all stadiums have to be at least 40 thousand capacity.

Secaucus, New Jersey in mid-late July? The forecast says HOT, muggy, and stanky. Hope the games are at night. Rains 7 days each July, on average.

MetLife stadium was chosen over AT&T stadium because of NYC’s market and their public transportation system. AT&T stadium has no public transportation lines and not many people outside of the US know where Arlington, TX is located. NYC is arguably the most famous city in the world so I’m not sure why people thought AT&T stadium was going to get it.

Here's the average attendance for all the newest (ie opened since 2005) NFL stadiums being used in the US for the World Cup in 2026 as of Feb 12, 2024: SoFi Stadium: 71,458 (3 games) AT&T Stadium: 63,046 (20 games) MetLife Stadium: 60,056 (28 games) Levi's Stadium: 52,077 (20 games) Mercedes-Benz Stadium: 49,347 (115 games)

I live in the Dallas area and we get 9 GAMES! I will def be going to a few of them!

The Atlanta Falcons also play in Mercedes Benz stadium

Dallas was going to get the final but the problem with it was transportation so they gave it to jersey instead

Kansas City's stadium isn't much of a looker but the atmosphere is unmatched. I just saw a soccer game when Messi came to town last week and man it was crazy. Can't wait for the World Cup!

Bro Canada and Mexico gets sprinkles the US is mainly the host 11 out of 16 cities and stadiums and all playoffs.

So happy as a new yorker so excited we get the final Metlife or for world cup since their can't be sponsers . It will be callled NY NJ Stadium.

Atlantas Mercedes Benz stadium was purpose built by Arthur Blank for both his NFL and MLS team.

Vancouver does host a round of 16 game, so not just all group games.

NY/NJ got the final to provide a better start time for Europe (6 hours time difference as opposed to 9 for LA) Friendly tip for our European friends…DO NOT underestimate the difficulty in getting to the stadiums. Most are not accessible by public transit and traffic around them can be brutal.

The reason New Jersey was picked for the final is because FIFA is used to negotiating with poor nations who’s stadiums need the revenue, whereas these NFL stadiums (especially the new ones) are owned by franchises in a league that makes billions. LA’s So-Fi was supposed to host, but they told fifa to get lost during negotiations. They then went to Dallas, where the same thing played out. Settled on Jersey because they were the most desperate dog in the fight ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In my opinion the best stadiums in the U.S. are Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Seattle.

My boyfriend and I are hoping to get tickets at Sofi in LA. But they’ll probably get snatched up in a few seconds and we will probably only be able to afford the back row of the nose bleed section.

Azteca stadium will be renovated to a super modern one Greetings from Southern California 🇺🇸 🇲🇽 🇨🇦

They could use college football stadiums and have a dozen of them that outpace the size of almost all of these, but the infrastructure in smaller college towns just aren’t there to cater to group stages.

I wonder if they will do fly overs for the any of the games

With the expanded field of teams, I think half-empty stadia are a real possibility, especially when there's a matchup of relatively small nations. After '94 I wasn't sure we'd be fortunate enough to host another WC in my lifetime so I'm beyond stoked we're getting another go, but I'm genuinely worried about how many empty seats we're going to see if Kerplakistan ends up playing the Democratic Republic of Abizur.

ignore the haters bro dont tell them get you down dude

It doesn’t rain as much here like England so there’s like no canopy’s on our stadiums

The Fact the Chicago isnt hosting any game in the 2026 world cup makes me REALLY sad :(. Also Minneapolis would have been a GREAT venue

Respectfully grew up on gridiron style football so the only reason I’d even fathom how to watch association soccer is to learn the anthems I don’t currently know

wow. finnaly we gonna have thw Soccer World Cup.

The first one was in Canada, BMO field, its in Toronto, its probably the least impressive on the list, but it's view out to Toronto harbor and Toronto Island are quite stunning. Plus the CN tower and the rest of the city skyline is just a Glace the other direction. But like I said it's very basic and much smaller then the others, I believe the south side is still mostly steel bleachers, cold as f in the winter, but the fans at TFC games stomp on them like crazy and it gets so loud on that side, makes for one of the best environments for football/soccer games in North America. Toronto is actually soccer crazy. So much national diversity in that city.

7:43 you’d be surprised to know that Mexico plays way more games in the US than they do in Mexico. If FIFA allowed Mexico to play official World Cup qualifiers games in the US they would

The Guadalajara is meant to resemble a volcano. The roof is the cloud above the volcano.

"national team stadium" we in Canada and the US don't technically have that as our country is too big if they were to play only in Toronto people out west would never see a game. What we do is play games in strategic locations for example if the US were to play Mexico in a World Cup quali match they would play as far away from the border, Miami and New York as they have high Mexican American populations they also use weather Canada played Mexico and costa rica in Alberta in -9 to freeze them out which works

Met Life stadium is notorious among NFL players of having the worst playing surface in the league. They say it’s where ACLs go to die. Can’t believe they’re hosting the finals.

We have very nice "soccer specific" stadiums in the US, but many of them are not as big as our NFL stadiums. A lot of them top out at 30-40k. That's why the US stadiums used are NFL stadiums. NFL uses fake turf. MLS teams would prefer real grass, but they don't have the sway. Many of these will need to put in real grass for the tournament. I imagine the MLS stadiums will get some use.

I’m surprised Dallas or LA isn’t where the final is taking place

There isn't one American stadium under 65k, thats insane!

Those window smashers are gonna feast on tourist in san fran sadly.

These stadiums are all small for college football 😂

Atlanta’s stadium might as well be specifically for the United. They draw better than the Falcons in the NFL it seems.

Atlanta Falcons NFL team stadium originally

Dallas cowboy stadium- Yes ur basically hosts alote of Mexico games because Mexico plays majority of their friendlies in America specifically Texas and California. It’s funny because when USA play they pick smaller stadiums but for Mexico they get NFL stadiums because no matter opponent the Mexican fans will fill it. Even here in MetLife . If Iam not wrong MetLife (World Cup final ) first soccer game was Mexico vs Ecuador and I went to it. Mexican fans mostly packed the stadium .

Estadio Azteca.. the only stadium on the planet to host a World Cup 3 times.

Wow, they gave a lot of detail about the other stadiums and barely said anything about Lumen Field in Seattle. A little more history; Lumen Field was the site of the MLS Cup in 2009 and 2019; the latter set a new attendance record for the stadium with 69,274 spectators. The venue also hosted the 2010 and 2011 tournament finals for the U.S. Open Cup as well as the second leg of the 2022 tournament final for the CONCACAF Champions League; the Sounders won all three finals, with new tournament attendance records set for each final (or leg) hosted at Lumen Field. The stadium hosted several CONCACAF Gold Cup matches across multiple editions, and the Copa América Centenario in 2016. It will also host matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which was awarded to the United States, Canada, and Mexico. They have also hosted exhibition games. The stadium meets FIFA sight line requirements and provides separate locker rooms for soccer teams. Camera locations were chosen for optimal television coverage of the sport. Numerous exhibition games have taken place at Lumen Field, including high-profile clubs such as Manchester United, Barcelona, Celtic, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Club América and Chivas de Guadalajara. These games have proved to be highly popular, and the first sell-out of 66,772 fans at the stadium was a soccer match between Manchester United and Celtic. National teams such as Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, and China have played exhibition games at the stadium. Seattle Stadium will host six matches from the FIFA World Cup 26™, including USA's second group fixture and two knockout games. The full match schedule for the biggest-ever FIFA World Cup has now been unveiled, giving the framework for the 104-game tournament featuring 48 teams across 16 host cities in three countries - Canada, Mexico and the United States. And the stunning Seattle venue will play host to four group-stage games, one Round of 32 fixture and one Round of 16 tie, with USA taking to the field on Friday, 19 June 2026 for their second group match. The home atmosphere was perhaps best evidenced on 5 May 2022, as the Sounders defeated Mexican outfit Pumas 3-0 to claim a 5-2 aggregate victory and lift the Concacaf Champions League, becoming the first American side to win the competition in its new format and qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup™. The head coach of the US men’s said; “It’s great to finally learn where we will be for the group stage. It really starts to bring things to life,” Berhalter said. “We would have been happy with any of the venues because we know the home support is going to be incredible. With Seattle you have a rich fan culture and an incredible atmosphere in the stadium. I get goosebumps thinking about it already. It's not only about the cities hosting the World Cup, it's about all the communities across America really getting behind us and creating this wave of support that really pushes the team to try to go and reach new heights.” Finally in addition to being the home of the Seattle Sounders, it’s the home of NFL’s Seahawks and one of the eight inaugural members of the NWSL (National Women’s Soccer League) the OL Reign. It’s also hosted concerts by Taylor Swift, The Rolling Stones, Cold Play, Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, U2, and many others. The open end of the stadium where you can see the skyline faces north, so as you’re looking at the picture they used, the left or west side of the stadium is where the sunsets. However there have been really spectacular sunsets that have basically filled up the sky. One was so spectacular it resulted in the colors being used the following year for the Sounders second kit, which was called Nightfall. images.app.goo.gl/wT5tPQgrhDAk8JX27

There is a large diaspora of Mexicans in the US so the national team plays regularly in the states

Anywhere in the USA Mexico is the home team...even against the American's. That's why Dallas and Houston host the national team.

Well it will draw people from other countries to visit but i dont see it being a big thing for average Americans.

Count me amongst those who wish the final were being played at Estadio Azteca. I'm American and I love it when my country gets positive attention in world football. But, Azteca is a sacred temple. It more than deserves its place on the biggest stage. I'm sentimental that way. Sue me.

Azteca is getting renovated.