The 16 stadium for the 2026 USA, Mexico and Canada World Cup Tre nazioni per ben sedici stadi

The last time a World Cup was played in the United States is still well etched in the minds of Italians. It was July 17, 1994, when at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Roberto Baggio kicked sky-high the penalty that handed Brazil the World Cup and plunged the Azzurro people into hellish despair. And 32 years later, the World Cup is preparing to return to the States and beyond. The 2026 edition, in fact, will be a special one; the first to be held in three nations, the United States in fact, as well as Canada and Mexico, and which will see the expansion of participating teams to 48. An opportunity for so many National Teams that see the World Cup only as a mirage, but also a chance for Italy to get back into the spotlight in the intercontinental competition after its two consecutive failures to qualify for Russia 2018 and the upcoming Qatar 2022. 

The 23rd edition of the World Cup will be divided among 11 cities in the US, three in Mexico and two in Canada. A total of as many as 80 matches divided into 60, including quarters, semifinals and finals, will be played in the States, and 10 each between the Mexican and Canadian countries. There will thus be 16 stadiums hosting the event, well double the 8 in the now very close Qatar 2022. 

Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta

Opened in 1983, it has already hosted a World Cup final, namely the 2015 Women's World Cup won by the United States against Japan. It has a retractable roof that can be opened or closed in just twenty minutes. It also has the special feature of a big screen that hangs from above in the center of the facility. Its capacity is 54,500 spectators.