The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be held in Atlanta, as The City of Atlanta have recently announced that we’ll be the host city for the epic sporting event. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the largest edition of the world’s most popular sporting event yet, with 48 teams vying for soccer’s biggest prize in matches hosted across the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Twenty-two cities across the three North American host countries competed for bids to host matches, with 16 receiving the nod. The Atlanta Sports Council (ASC) led the bid effort, collaborating with state and local governments, Arthur M. Blank Sports + Entertainment, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Georgia World Congress Center Authority to win the bid.
“We have the pleasure of celebrating Atlanta’s selection as a host city of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, because of our strong, bipartisan public-private partnerships and many who have been working for years to put Georgia on the map since we hosted the 1996 Olympics,” said Governor Brian P. Kemp. “This premiere event will have a positive impact on so many hardworking Georgians. Hotels will fill with guests from around the world; restaurants will provide visitors a taste of the South they will not soon forget.”
“This is an incredible opportunity for the city of Atlanta to continue to show the world what we have to offer,” said Arthur M. Blank, Owner and Chairman of The Blank Family of Businesses, including Mercedes-Benz Stadium. “Our stadium was built to host world-class events, and we would be honored to continue that tradition in 2026 with the World Cup.”
Each match Atlanta puts on is expected to generate roughly $4.6 million in global media exposure. The rounds that the city will host will be announced by FIFA at a later date.
We’ll keep you posted on all things 2026 FIFA World Cup, here on Secret Atlanta. From the celebratory events that are bound to happen throughout the city, to the best sports bars in the city.