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The men’s 2026 World Cup soccer tournament is headed to Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a goal city officials and sports fans have been hoping for years.
The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the governing body of the World Cup, announced the host cities for one of the most popular sporting events in the world on June 16 during a live broadcast on Fox Sports.
Atlanta is part of the central group of cities that will host matches. Other central cities to host the 2026 World Cup are Kansas, Dallas and Houston.
Other cities selected from the west and the east by FIFA are: Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Guadalajara, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami and New York/New Jersey.
Which cities will host opening matches and where the title match will be played is not yet known.
The 2026 World Cup will be the first played in the U.S. since 1994. The tournament is also the first time three countries are co-hosting. There will also be 48 teams playing, up from the traditional 32, so the tournament will produce more games than ever.
Atlanta has a record of hosting major sporting events, including college basketball’s Final Four in 2020, Super Bowl LII in 2019 and the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship.
The Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United both play home matches at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which opened in 2017 and seats about 75,000. The stadium has a retractable roof and an artificial surface.
A study by the Boston Consulting Group said the 2026 World Cup could mean up to $4 billion in net revenue to North America, or about $90 to $480 million per city after accounting for potential public costs.
Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation in May that eliminates sales tax on World Cup tickets. Georgia also set aside $250,000 in next year’s budget for security if Atlanta won the bid.
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