Washington and Baltimore were not chosen as host cities for the 2026 World Cup in a failed joint bid, FIFA announced on Thursday.
Instead, 16 other cities were chosen out of 23 finalists throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada. Games were to be played at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore with ancillary events staged in Washington.
The United States, Mexico and Canada are jointly hosting the 2026 World Cup, the first time the tournament will be played in three countries. The U.S. previously hosted the 1994 World Cup.
Mexico was the site in 1986.
The other host cities are:
Dallas, Atlanta, New York, Boston, Houston, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Miami, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle.
In Mexico, games will be played in Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara. Toronto and Vancouver are the host cities in Canada.
The District hosted World Cup games in 1994, but they were played at the now-defunct RFK Stadium which no longer holds events and is slated for demolition. FedEx Field in Landover was withdrawn as an applicant earlier this year and instead Washington joined forces with Baltimore.
The 2026 World Cup will be expanded to 48 teams from the current 32-team structure that’s been in place since the 1998 World Cup in France.
There will be 16 groups with three teams each. They will advance to a larger knockout stage of 32 teams instead of the current 16.
Each city made its pitch to FIFA officials last fall.
This year’s World Cup in Qatar begins on Nov. 20 with four games, including the United States playing Wales. Games will air in Spanish on Telemundo 44.
