One of the first things an event organizer needs to do when picking future conference dates is consult a calendar. Besides avoiding major holidays and holy days, planners might want to avoid the traffic, hassles, and high prices around, for example, the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this July, Mardi Gras or the 2025 Super Bowl in New Orleans, inauguration day in Washington, D.C., or any of a number of major local and regional events.
Here’s another to add to the list: the 2026 FIFA World Cup, for which the United States is one of the hosts. The game schedule was recently announced, with the opening U.S. game set for June 12 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles; the championship game at Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on July 19; and dozens of matches in between. (View the match schedule here.)
A total of 108 matches will be played across 16 cities in Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. for World Cup 2026. In the U.S., the host cities are Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, Atlanta, Miami, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, and East Rutherford, N.J. The World Cup was last held in the U.S. in 1994.
In Mexico, matches will be held in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey. In Canada, games will be in Vancouver and Toronto.
Whether you want to avoid the crowds or head toward the energy of a world-class sporting event, forewarned is forearmed.
