Some people may think it’s a bit early to be getting excited about the 2026 World Cup soccer tournament coming to the United States, but not soccer enthusiasts. FIFA announced last week, the host cities for the World Cup, and I’m already considering what cities I will travel to, in order to see games in person.
There were 22 cities in the U.S., Mexico and Canada vying for the opportunity to host some of the soccer matches. The list was narrowed down to 16 cities.
Typically, the official name of the soccer tournament takes on the name of the host country, as in this year’s tournament which is titled, FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. However, since the one in 2026 will take place across three countries in North America, it is being called, FIFA World Cup United 2026.
The U.S. host cities include our country’s largest cities, as well as some mid-sized sports markets. The World Cup will take place in; Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco/Bay Area, and Seattle.
Toronto and Vancouver will also host, as well as Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey. Mexico will be the first country to host the World Cup three different times. This will be Canada’s first-time hosting.
The U.S. will host 60 of the tournament’s 80 games, including every game from the quarterfinals onward. The expanded World Cup field will include 48 teams.
FIFA had more than enough cities applying to host game, and those that were ultimately cut from contention included Cincinnati, Nashville, Denver, Orlando, Edmonton, and a joint bid between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
Of course, for those of us here in Oklahoma, the closest host cities will be Dallas and Kansas City, and I’ll likely be trying to purchase tickets for both venues in different rounds of the World Cup tournament.
The last time the U.S. hosted the World Cup, in 1994, I went to Dallas to watch a match at the Cotton Bowl stadium. This time, the matches in Dallas will be played at AT&T Stadium; home of the Dallas Cowboys. In Kansas City, the matches will be at the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium. In fact, all of the World Cup matches in the U.S. will be played in NFL stadiums.
This year’s World Cup tournament is being hosted by Qatar and kicks off Nov. 21.
It may seem like 2026 is a long way off, but as I get older, I know those four years will go by quick.
No More Rings
Watch out married Major League Baseball pitchers, you are on notice. You can no longer wear your wedding band while pitching.
Cincinnati Reds rookie Graham Ashcraft was the first to encounter this new enforcement of the rule during his start against the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday. First-base umpire John Tumpane told Ashcraft to remove his wedding ring during his foreign substance inspection in the first inning.
Ashcraft was wearing a black silicone ring on his left hand, his glove hand.
“He goes, ‘you have to take your ring off,’” Ashcraft said during a post-game press conference. “I was like, ‘no, why do I have to take my ring off? I shouldn’t have to.’ Apparently, it’s some new rule they came up with yesterday.”
No, it’s not a new MLB rule, however, the league and umpires just decided last week to being enforcing rule 6.02(c)(7) in the MLB rulebook. The rule states a pitcher, “may not attach anything to either hand, any finger or either wrist.” Umpires determine if it should be considered a foreign substance, “but in no case may the pitcher be allowed to pitch with such attachment to his hand, finger or wrist.”
Cincinnati manager David Bell, confirmed he received a memo that the rule would be enforced this week.
“I actually did get a memo about it,” Bell said during his post-game press conference. “I knew I had. I hadn’t read it super close, so as soon as Graham came off the field, we went and double-checked and there is a rule. They just reminded us recently.”
Ashcraft checked with home-plate umpire Junior Valentine about the rule before he returned to the mound for the second inning. Valentine confirmed it was something umpires began enforcing Friday.