NEW YORK (AP) — Next year’s championship of the expanded Club World Cup will be played on July 13 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, site of the 2026 World Cup final.
Twelve stadiums will be used for the 32-team tournament, FIFA said Saturday night, including five of the 11 U.S. venues for the 2026 World Cup.
Sites include six NFL stadiums; four Major League Soccer homes; the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, site of the 1994 World Cup final; and Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, another 1994 World Cup site.
FIFA made the announcement at 6:20 p.m. EDT on a Saturday, when U.S. sports attention was focused on college football and Major League Baseball pennant races. FIFA President Gianni Infantino revealed the sites at the Global Citizen Festival, an anti-poverty group’s event in New York’s Central Park.
FIFPRO, the international players’ union, in December criticized FIFA for scheduling an event that “will undercut the rest and recovery time of these players at the end of the 2024-25 season.” It said FIFA’s decision “demonstrates a lack of consideration for the mental and physical health of participating players, as well as a disregard for their personal and family lives.”
FIFA has not announced any broadcast agreements for the matches. The site announcement was streamed on YouTube.
The 2026 World Cup sites to be used are Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta; MetLife Stadium; Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida; Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia; and Lumen Field in Seattle. The additional NFL home is Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The MLS venues are TQL Stadium in Cincinnati; Geodis Park in Nashville, Tennessee; Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando; and Audi Field in Washington, D.C.
FIFA did not include newer SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, where eight World Cup games are scheduled for 2026.
FIFA is not using any of the 14 venues picked for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which runs from June 14 to July 6 and will not play on the East Coast.
FIFA announced on June 23, 2023, that the Club World Cup will be played in the U.S. and there will be eight four-team groups. The top two teams in each group advance to the knockout rounds.
Global Citizen will produce the 2026 World Cup final halftime show.
Teams qualified for the Club World Cup include:
- Europe: Atlético Madrid, Bayern Munich, Benfica, Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Juventus, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto, Real Madrid, Red Bull Salzburg
- South America: Boca Juniors, Flamengo, Fluminense, Palameiras, River Plate
- North and Central America and Caribbean: León, Monterrey, Pachuca, Seattle Sounders
- Africa: Al Ahly, Espérance, Mamelodi Sundowns, Waydad
- Asia: Al-Hilal, Al Ain, Ulsan, Urawa
- Oceania: Auckland City
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