For the first time in the competition’s history, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be hosted by three nations : Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
With 16 stadiums hosting the world’s most prestigious tournament across 16 different cities, below are the cities and stadiums that make up the Central region.
AT&T Stadium – Dallas, Texas, United States
Dallas is one of two host cities in the Lone Star State, hosting more World Cup matches than any other city, including a semi-final.
The city, which was the favourite to gain the hosting rights to the final, narrowly missed out to New York’s MetLife Stadium, with FIFA awarding AT&T Stadium the most matches in the tournament as a consolation.
The stadium is home to the Dallas Cowboys, as well as other competition finals in American Football. Despite being based in Arlington, which is located 23 miles east of Dallas, the stadium will be known as Dallas Stadium due to FIFA’s regulations on sponsorships, with the choice in naming being chosen due to Arlington being part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, which is the fourth most populous conurbation after New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago, with the latter being the only city out of that list to not have any involvement in the tournament.
The Dallas Stadium is the largest stadium in the tournament, currently seating 80,000 supporters, which is expandable to 105,000, although the bidding book for the World Cup lists the stadium capacity to be 93,000. This makes the stadium the third largest in the NFL, behind both MetLife Stadium and the Green Bay Packers’ stadium, Lambeau Field.
The stadium boasts a closed roof and an enormous centre-hung video board, which is approximately 49 meters in length. It hangs so low that several punts in the NFL have actually hit the screen, meaning that the play has to be replayed.
This is where England will play their opening match of the tournament, coming up against Zlatko Dalić’s Croatia, who have reached at least the semi-finals in the last two World Cups.
Estadio Guadalajara – Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Estadio Guadalajara, known as Estadio Akron for sponsorship purposes, has been the home of Liga MX side C.D. Guadalajara since 2010, when the club moved from the Estadio Jalisco.
The stadium has a capacity of 49,000, making it the second smallest stadium in the tournament after Toronto’s BMO Field.
Estadio Guadalajara is most recognisable for its sweeping exterior, designed to look like it rises naturally from the ground. The stadium’s arched concrete shell is covered with grass, giving it the appearance of a grassy hill rather than a traditional stadium.
It also has a roof that appears as if it is floating above the stadium, being held above the stadium with 16 pillars.
Despite the stadium being built fifteen years ago, El Tri have played three matches here, though they have only won on one occasion. This came against the United States on the 15th of October in 2024. Both matches in which Mexico failed to win here came against the same opposition: Ecuador.
The home of C.D. Guadalajara held two matches at the World Cup inter-confederation play-offs, where Jamaica would earn their spot in the final after beating New Caledonia, but would eventually lose 1-0 to the DR Congo in added time, who will compete in their first tournament since the 1974 edition in West Germany.
Estadio Azteca – Mexico City, Mexico
Mexico City is the only capital city between the three host nations that will host matches in the tournament, with Washington D.C. and Ottawa missing out. That being said, the District of Columbia played host to the draw for the tournament last December at the Kennedy Centre.
Mexico City is the most populous city across all three host nations to host matches in the tournament, with the city being the sixth most populous city in the world.
The stadium that will host five matches in the world’s most-watched tournament is the Estadio Azteca, which will have a capacity expanded to 90,000 spectators, sitting at an elevation of 2,200 meters above sea level. The stadium is home to Liga MX side Club América, as well as the Mexican national team.
It will become the first stadium in World Cup history to host matches in three different World Cups, albeit, unlike the previous two editions, it will not host any matches past the Round of 16.
NRG Stadium – Houston, Texas, United States
The city of Houston, which is immortalised as one of the first words spoken on the Moon, is no stranger to playing a part in historic moments. Now, the city is preparing to host seven matches in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
These matches will take place at NRG Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Houston Texans, as well as the Texas Bowl and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The stadium (formerly known as Reliant Stadium) will be called the Houston Stadium throughout the tournament, and boasts 72,220 seats, though it can be expanded to roughly 80,000 seats for special occasions. It opened in 2002, built specifically to bring an NFL franchise back to the city following the departures of the Oilers.
The home of the Texans will host seven matches in the tournament, which, alongside the host city of Dallas, means that the state of Texas will host more games in the tournament than any other state.
Alongside the city being the location of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, the “Energy Capital of the World” is also home to Texas Medical Center, the largest medical centre in the world, which includes 21 hospitals as well as the home of 10 oil refineries which produce over 2.5 million barrels of crude oil every day.
Estadio BBVA – Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
Estadio Monterrey is the home of C.F. Monterrey is located in Guadalupe, in Greater Monterrey, in the state of Nuevo León. It has a capacity of 53,529 and will host four matches in the World Cup, including a knockout match.
The stadium, known as Estadio BBVA due to sponsorship, started construction in 2011 and was completed four years later in 2015, with the first match in the stadium taking place in August of that year, with Monterrey beating Benfica 3-0 in a friendly.
Estadio Monterrey was built to replace the Estadio Tecnológico, which was the home of Monterrey from 1952 until 2015, when it was partially demolished soon after to make way for the Estadio Borregos, the home of a Mexican-based American Football team called Fundidores de Monterrey.
Both the Estadio Tecnológico and Estadio BBVA overlook the Cerro de la Silla mountain range, giving Estadio Monterrey, most probably, the best skyline out of any other host city. The stadium played host to two matches in the World Cup inter-confederation play-offs, which saw Iraq book their ticket stateside.
Arrowhead Stadium – Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Kansas City is the largest city in the state of Missouri, although the city is split across both the state of Missouri and Kansas due to its situation at the confluence of the Missouri River and the Kansas River.
It is the sixth-most populous city in the Midwest and the 38th most populous city in the United States. This makes Kansas City the least populous of the 16 selected cities.
Despite this, Arrowhead Stadium, which is situated in the state of Missouri, will host six matches for the tournament. The stadium, which will be known as Kansas City Stadium throughout the tournament, is home to the Kansas City Chiefs, one of the most successful NFL sides in recent history, winning two out of the last three Super Bowls.
Arrowhead was constructed 57 years ago in July 1968, with construction getting completed four years later. Since then, Arrowhead has been renovated on three occasions, with the latest occurrence being back in 2010. That being said, the Mayor of Kansas City, Quinton Lucas, has pledged $50 million for renovations for the stadium to be ready for the World Cup.
However, in December of 2025, the owner of the Chiefs, Clark Hunt, announced the team’s decision to move to the opposite side of the river, relocating to Wyandotte County and leaving Arrowhead Stadium behind. In doing so, the Chiefs would build a state-of-the-art stadium, expected to cost around $3 billion.