Vancouver is one of the cities that is vying to host games as part of the FIFA 2026 World Cup bid, according to the United Bid committee, which is coordinating a bid to host the world’s biggest sporting event in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
Seven Canadian cities are included on the United Bid committee’s list of 44 potential host cities, which it released August 15. Other cities include Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Regina and Toronto.
While Vancouver's bid would only be for games at BC Place Stadium, Toronto and Montreal may have games at two stadiums each. In Montreal, that would be Olympic Stadium and Saputo Stadium while in Toronto, games could be held in Rogers Centre or at BMO Field.
Montreal's Olympic Stadium, with capacity for 61,004 people, is the largest of the Canadian stadia.
The bid also includes 34 U.S. cities and three Mexican cities.
“Vancouver is a world-class host city that has successfully hosted many international sporting events including the 2010 Winter Olympics, the HSBC Rugby World Sevens Series and the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup,” said Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson in a statement.
“This is an exciting opportunity for Canadian soccer fans to show off the fantastic fan atmosphere we’ll be able to provide as a host city and be a significant boost to the economy and local businesses.”
The FIFA World Cup takes place every four years and, in 2014 in Brazil, attracted more than 3.4 million spectators.
FIFA 2026 will be the first to feature an expanded field of 48 teams and, if the tournament is awarded to North America, 10 matches will be held in Canada. All matches from the quarter-finals on would be held in the U.S.
The United Bid committee will shortlist cities for inclusion in the bid next month before submitting the North American proposal in March 2018. FIFA will announce on June 13, 2018 whether they have awarded the 2026 World Cup to North America or Morocco - the only other country bidding for the event.
