Montreal out as 2026 World Cup site; FIFA to pick in 2022

MONTREAL — Montreal has withdrawn its bid to be a site of the 2026 World Cup, leaving Edmonton, Alberta, and Toronto as the only Canadian cities.

Montreal said Tuesday that the Quebec provincial government had withdrawn its support.

Eighteen U.S. stadiums in 17 areas are bidding for the event, with the Los Angeles area submitting both SoFi Stadium in Inglewood and the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, site of the 1994 World Cup final. Three cities in Mexico are bidding.

The 2026 World Cup will be the first with 48 nations and the first with three co-hosts. FIFA selected the bid as joint host in June 2018.

Sixty games are to be played in the U.S., including all from the quarterfinals on. Canada and Mexico are to host 10 games each.

The bid plan envisioned 16 total sites for the tournament.

FIFA said Tuesday it plans to conduct venue visits from September to November and finalize selections during the first six months of 2022.

The bid had been trimmed to 23 candidate areas in March 2018, including Montreal. The remaining areas and stadiums:

United States

Arlington, Texas, AT&T Stadium; Atlanta, Mercedes-Benz Stadium; Baltimore, M&T Bank Stadium; Cincinnati, Paul Brown Stadium; Denver, Empower Field at Mile High; East Rutherford, N.J., MetLife Stadium; Foxborough, Mass., Gillette Stadium; Houston, NRG Stadium; Inglewood, Calif., SoFi Stadium; Kansas City, Mo., Arrowhead Stadium; Landover, Md., FedEx Field; Miami Gardens, Fla., Hard Rock Stadium; Nashville, Tenn., Nissan Stadium; Orlando, Fla., Camping World Stadium; Pasadena, Calif., Rose Bowl; Philadelphia, Lincoln Financial Field; Santa Clara, Calif., Levi’s Stadium; Seattle, Lumen Field.

Canada

Edmonton, Alberta, Commonwealth Stadium; Toronto, BMO Field

Mexico

Guadalajara, Estadio Akron; Mexico City, Estadio Azteca; Monterrey, Estadio BBVA.