We all know a little about soccer and the last World Cup, which was held in 2022 during the winter months. Argentina played a fantastic game to win against the previous winners of the 2018 World Cup, France. As most know, Lionel Messi won the World Cup, which will be his last trophy with his national team. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will occur from June 11th to July 19th, 2026. It will be held across three nations, the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and it will be jointly hosted by 16 cities throughout these countries. This World Cup will also be the first North American World Cup since 1994. This is the first time a World Cup will be hosted between three nations. Most of this tournament will be played in the United States, holding eleven matches. The cities in the United States hosting will be Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle. Mexico will be hosting in the following cities: Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey, while Canada will be hosting in Toronto and Vancouver. The United States Men’s National Team, known as the USMNT, will play their group stage matches in Los Angeles, California, and Seattle, Washington. Their first match will be held on June 12th in Los Angeles before heading to Seattle. The final World Cup is stored in the New York/New Jersey MetLife Stadium. The USMNT qualified for seven straight FIFA World Cups between 1990 and 2014 but failed to be eligible in 2018. In the most recent World Cup, the USMNT made it to the knockout stage and won 1-0 against Iran, thanks to the USMNT captain, Christian Pulisic. But they were ultimately knocked out in the Round Of 16 by the Netherlands, losing 3-1. The
USMNT had a very young and inexperienced team walking into the 2022 World Cup, but they have high hopes that they will be ready and robust for the 2026 tournament. To be fair to this team, they have excellent players like Christian Pulisic, who has just moved from Chelsea to AC Milan; Gio Reyna, who has recently been put on loan to Nottingham Forest from Borussia Dortmund; and Weston Mckennie, who plays for Juventus. The USMNT has won some critical tournaments in North America, like the CONCACAF Nations League, and they can now play in the Copa America. Also, the USMNT, for the first time since 2008, has qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics. This is very good, considering the USMNT will now be able to play against excellent teams such as Argentina and France, which will be great for building a stronger team for the future.