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Las Vegas is emerging as a potential host for the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw in December, industry sources have told SportsTravel, although no final decision has been taken and other unnamed cities are said to be still in contention.
Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium has been a regular spot for Concacaf events, including the 2021 Gold Cup final, 2023 Nations League semifinals and final and three matches in the 2024 Copa América. It will be one of the sites for the 2025 Gold Cup and has been a popular spot for international club friendlies including a 2022 game between Barcelona and Real Madrid.
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Las Vegas was not one of the cities under consideration to host World Cup matches after the city passed on bidding in 2018, citing in part the costs that would be incurred to retrofit Allegiant Stadium for FIFA standards. At the time, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President and Chief Operating Officer Steve Hill said Vegas would have needed to do more than $100 million in adjustments.
Still, the feeling of FIFA wanting to have Vegas be part of the World Cup persisted throughout the process. When Los Angeles and FIFA were having at a temporary impasse over the host city contract, ESPN’s John Sutcliffe reported that FIFA was on the verge of dropping Los Angeles and adding Las Vegas, although that ended up not happening.
Should Las Vegas end up selected as host for the draw, it would be the first major FIFA 2026-related event not to be at a host city. The announcement of the host cities was made from a TV studio in the New York City region before the logo was revealed in Los Angeles. When the schedule was released and New York/New Jersey was awarded the final, FIFA President Gianni Infantino made the announcement from a television studio in Miami.
The final month of the year in Las Vegas is highlighted by the National Finals Rodeo at the Thomas & Mack Center from December 4–13. There would also be games for the NFL’s Raiders and NHL’s Golden Knights to schedule around and a variety of holiday concert residencies.
Alejandro Hutt, host city manager of Monterrey, told ESPN Deportes in January that it and Vancouver both submitted bids to host the draw and were told by FIFA that the event would not be going to either city, adding “it will surely be another city in the United States that is not a World Cup host.”
As for a timeline on when FIFA would make an announcement on where the draw will be headed, one date to watch would be the 75th FIFA Congress in Asunción, Paraguay, on May 15.
FIFA has so far announced 49 options around North America for base camps that teams can use during the 2026 World Cup, one more than the number of participating teams. The plan is to release another group of potential base camp options this spring before a final group announced in the fall with a target of approximately 68 total options for countries.
Among the current options are 32 cities that are not hosting World Cup games. Of the 11 U.S. cities that will host matches, six— New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta and Kansas City — also have base camp options. Dallas has five options, the most of any city, while Atlanta and Kansas City both have two options. The New York/New Jersey option is in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Teams will submit their selections for base camps following the Final Draw, with teams picking base camp locations in accordance with the FIFA world ranking. FIFA’s catalog of current base camp options is available online including a map that shows the distance between the current options and the 2026 host cities.
Miami Host Committee Co-Chair Rodney Barreto admitted recently to the Miami Herald “that we’re a little frustrated with FIFA because they haven’t cut us loose yet; they’ve kind of tied our hands with respect to what we can offer sponsors.”
Each city can have up to 10 designated Host City Supporters but those deals cannot conflict with FIFA’s global sponsors. Industry sources have said that restriction has caused issues with host cities who want to get recognizable local sponsors but whose spheres of business conflict with FIFA’s ongoing global search.
FIFA hosted a two-day workshop in Miami in January and The Herald reported “several host city officials complained during the workshop about lack of clarity from FIFA about what host committees are allowed to offer prospective sponsors. FIFA is working on getting the answers, Barreto said.”
Barreto shares co-chair duties on the Miami Host Committee with Alina Hudak. Miami will host seven matches including a Round of 32 game, quarterfinal and third-place match.
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