Anticipation Builds For 2026 FIFA World Cup As Final Venue Released
The 2026 World Cup was announced to be hosted in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Although venues for the group stage matches and the knockout rounds were announced, the venue for the final hadn't been selected. On January 21st, FIFA finally announced the location of the World Cup final, that being the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Fans have been excited about the tournament since the end of the last World Cup. After Argentina won the final in penalties versus France, fans have been eagerly waiting for the next World Cup to come around. The announcement of the next World Cup final venue helped create more anticipation amongst the fans, so now those people can get prepared for the tournament.
The AT&T Stadium is home to the Dallas Cowboys Football team and can host up to 80,000 fans inside of the stadium. The stadium also has the world's largest HDTV which measures an astonishing 72 feet tall and 160 feet wide. The TV alone cost the city of Arlington around $31.5 million. There are also another 3,000 televisions scattered across the stadium for fans to look at, just in case the HDTV isn’t enough. The stadium is modern and filled with the newest technology which will have fans from all over the world shocked.
One of the big factors in the selection of this stadium was its state-of-the-art retractable roof, which will help fans be able to stay cool during the extremely hot temperatures in the summer. Although the actual stadium building is spectacular, fans are worried about the transportation to the stadium because most of the fans will be traveling from across the world. Fans are hoping for public transportation to improve around the area of the stadium to allow the fans to get to the stadium easier.
Even though AT&T Stadium was ultimately selected to be the venue for the final, other stadiums across the United States. The other two finalist stadiums were SoFI Stadium in Los Angeles, and MetLife Stadium in the New York City metro area. SoFI owner has been reported to have had some disagreements with the president of FIFA, and now may not even host any games of the tournament. MetLife is reported to have lost the running due to the design of the stadium and how outdated it is compared to the other two finalists.