World Cup 2026 kicks off: The FIFA delegation begins a tour of the various stadiums in Miami

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is already a thing of the past. With all the qualifiers underway, FIFA has now decided to take a new step forward in preparing for the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

This Wednesday A tour of the different places that will host the competition will begin, and Miami will be the first to visitThe city has been in a state of convulsion since the arrival of Lionel Messi, the Argentine national team champion and current world champion, to Inter Miami.

FIFA executives will begin a four-week operational tour of host cities today, starting with Miami, which could host four to six matches at Hard Rock Stadium.

Separately, local organizers in South Florida are also bidding to host national team training camps during competition and broadcast centers for international media. The FIFA delegation is scheduled to meet Wednesday with Hard Rock Stadium officials, government officials, local police and security experts, transportation and tourism directors, and other agencies involved in organizing the Cup, scheduled for mid-September to mid-July.

“We are bringing in a wide range of operational experts, both international and from our local affiliates, to learn about the full process for each city and go into great detail as to how the event will be organised, and how certain elements will be reconfigured.” Hemu Sherji, Director of Operations at the FIFA World Cup 26, said in press statements: Miami Herald. “We will contact all authorities and advise on their best practices, how events are usually organized there, etc.”And he warned.

The President also expected that the full calendar with dates and locations would be announced at the end of this year, although the 48 participating teams have not yet been determined. Although it is not official yet, There is speculation that MetLife Stadium in New York and AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, are the main candidates to host the opening and final matches of the tournament.Since it meets the minimum requirement of 80,000 seats.

Regarding the fact that this will be the first time the tournament will be held in three countries, Sherji said: “Obviously this makes it more difficult because we have the travel distances. We are trying to mitigate this by having teams remain in certain groups, so that the movement of both teams and fans is more restricted. But we also see it as an opportunity to spread the word about the event, promote football with a large footprint and celebrate the uniqueness that all host cities can bring.

He added: “FIFA has been playing very close to the tournament, so we honestly don’t know the number of games, but we hope it will be at the upper end of the range of two to six games because Miami is the only one that will play in the tournament.” “The host city, Florida, has a unique geographical location that makes it easy to move in and out of the entire hemisphere, so we believe there are great advantages in holding as many matches as possible in Miami,” said Director Rolando Aidu. Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau operations in conversation with the same media.

It is worth noting that the other host cities in the United States are Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, and New York/New Jersey. The Canadian hosts are Vancouver and Toronto. While the Mexican headquarters are Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey.

Miami is also competing to host the 2024 Copa America, which will be held in the United States next summer. In addition to the ten CONMEBOL teams, this edition will feature six teams from CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean). Those led by Lionel Scaloni are also the current champions of this competition, after lifting the trophy against Brazil at the Maracanã in 2021.