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Getting the possibility to host seven matches for the 2026 World Cup was greater than anticipated and provides a much-needed shot within the arm to town’s financial system, Boston officers mentioned Monday.
FIFA made the announcement Sunday, allocating the opener of the 39-day event to Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca and the finale to the house of the NFL’s New York Jets and Giants. Among the seven matches that can be performed at Gillette Stadium within the Boston suburb of Foxborough can be 5 group stage matches, one match within the spherical of 32 and a quarterfinal match on July 9, 2026.
Mike Loynd, president of Boston Soccer 26, acknowledged organizers have been projecting about 5 or 6 matches and no quarterfinal, which means the ultimate schedule “is a great economic benefit.”
METLIFE STADIUM CHOSEN TO HOST 2026 WORLD CUP FINAL
“The later in the tournament, the more eyeballs,” he mentioned. “For us, it’s just a matter of excitement … For us, it’s a perfect schedule. I don’t think FIFA could have done a better job.”
Martha Sheridan, president & CEO of Meet Boston, mentioned “nothing compares” to internet hosting World Cup matches. Foxborough hosted video games on the 1994 World Cup, however Gillette Stadium is a special venue, constructed close to the previous Foxboro Stadium. Foxborough additionally hosted matches through the 1999 and 2003 Women’s World Cup.
Sheridan mentioned a FIFA research projected for a metropolis internet hosting the World Cup would generate $400 million in spending, including that the quantity must be adjusted now that town is ready to host seven video games.
A common view of Gillette Stadium earlier than the sport between the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots on December 28, 2020 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Maddie Malhotra/Getty Images)
“Our goal has been for the past four or five years since we were sort of decimated by COVID to really reestablish Boston as a major global destination,” Sheridan advised reporters.
“We are well on our way to doing that and this event is going to cement our reputation because I know we are going to do such a great job,” she mentioned. “People will be able to share in this incredible city’s reemergence and renaissance. We cannot wait.”
Sheridan additionally mentioned town will profit from the truth that video games may even be performed in Philadelphia and New Jersey — permitting followers to journey by prepare to varied venues.
“If you think about the fact that people can come to Boston, stay in a hotel for maybe the whole month and travel back and forth on Amtrak to New York City, Philadelphia and New Jersey and catch games, that’s going to be huge for us,” she mentioned.
Brian Bilello, president of the New England Revolution and chair of the board of Boston Soccer 26, mentioned the event may even be a boon to soccer within the area.
“It solidifies our place in the world’s game in the United States,” Bilello mentioned. “It really cements Boston and Massachusetts as one of the cornerstone soccer hotbeds in this country.”
FIFA expanded the World Cup from 32 to 48 nations, elevated the variety of matches from 64 to 104 and introduced the 16 websites in 2022. With the extra groups, the size of the event will develop from 29 days within the shortened 2022 schedule in Qatar and 32 days for the 2018 event in Russia.
Seventy-eight of 104 matches can be performed within the U.S., with 13 video games every in Mexico and Canada, and there as many as six matches a day.
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The U.S. group will prepare in suburban Atlanta forward of the event and open at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on June 12, 2026. The Americans play seven days later at Seattle’s Lumen Field and end the group stage at SoFi on June 25.
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