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RENTON, Wash. – Fans are counting down the days to the 2026 FIFA World Cup hosted in Seattle. While excitement is growing among soccer fans across the region, first responders continue training for potential emergencies during the tournament.
All eyes will be on the matches at Lumen Field, but Renton will also play a key role during the tournament.
“A lot of people are really excited to see all these different teams come to the United States and play here locally,” said MJ Thomas, emergency management coordinator for the City of Renton.
Thomas explained the Sounders’ training facility, headquartered in Renton, will be used by other teams as a base camp. Emergency management, police and firefighters have been preparing plans to protect FIFA events happening in Renton during the championships.
“We are preparing by practicing,” said Thomas.
Dig deeper:
First responders have been training and practicing for more than a year to prepare for any possible worst-case scenarios. As the tournament gets closer, emergency crews are turning to the community to take their training to the next level.
“To help our first responders truly practice for anything that can be thrown at them in a mass event,” said Thomas. “Building an exercise that allows us to coordinate our responses all together in a safe environment with no faults. That allows us to practice and reset, try again, and get it right.”
Emergency management is looking for volunteer actors in its 2025 World Cup Exercise. The simulation will help first responders practice in a large-scale mass casualty scenario.
“It’s incredibly important for us to have a safe space to practice a real-world scenario. This allows us to have no faults and allows us to truly bring in the public so they can see that we’re taking preparedness seriously,” said Thomas.
What you can do:
Volunteer actors will be needed in three different simulations. The first two simulations will be at Renton Memorial Stadium on October 8 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. During this practice, volunteers will play roles in the crowd, interact with firefighters and police, and create a realistic environment. They will also act out various injuries, symptoms, and behaviors.
“Getting your face painted up with Moulage, that’s a type of artistry that allows us to simulate blood and broken bones. So that we can really simulate a valid scenario for our first responders to truly practice in,” said Thomas.
Thomas said the third simulation will be at the Renton Highlands Neighborhood Center from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Volunteers will act as members of the public arriving at a “Family and Friends Reception Center” following a mass casualty event. The volunteers will roleplay the check-in and intake process, ask questions and updates on the injured, portray emotional responses, and interact with city staff.
“We have a situation planned for anything that’s going on,” said Thomas.
Applications for volunteer actors are available online through Oct. 3. Actors must be 16 years of age or older to participate. High school students who volunteer will receive credit for community service hours.
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The Source: Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle reporter Franque Thompson.
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Franque.Thompson@fox.com (Franque Thompson)
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Second stadium down, one Yard to go.
Before you blow your top over the lid at Burnham Yard, the prospective home of the Denver Broncos starting in 2031, did you know that, since 1990, the average temperature of a playoff home game in the Mile High City was 40 degrees?
And that of the Broncos’ last 15 postseason games in Denver, eight of them — per Pro-Football-Reference.com — were played in temperatures 37 degrees or warmer? The last five Empower Field playoff temps: 43, 46, 40, 41, 63.
Snow down, Broncomaniacs.
Denver won’t just be playing in Super Bowls over the next decade.
We’ll be hosting them.
“The Broncos have been, since Day 1 of the franchise, an important fabric and part of the community in Denver,” Broncos CEO Greg Penner told The Denver Post’s Parker Gabriel in an exclusive interview. “Finding a site of that size that we could weave into the downtown area and all that just was incredibly unique, combined with the historic nature of the site. …
“We have the bones of the old railyard and a couple of buildings and a unique site that we think enables us to create something unique and special, both with the stadium and the mixed-use development around it.”
The Walton-Penner Group just raised the roof without raising taxes. Despite overtures from Lone Tree and Aurora, they’re keeping the Broncos in Denver. Where they belong.
In other words, Penner and his wife Carrie Walton-Penner read the room the way Peyton Manning read defenses at the line of scrimmage.
“We’re really thrilled that they came with that partnership mentality and not, like we’ve seen in other cities, ‘You give us a bunch of money or we’ll leave,’” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis told The Post. “I think the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group is deeply committed to Denver and deeply committed to the community.”
No overt public money.
No political campaign.
No drama.
No games.
Well, except the big stuff. The biggest. For decades, the Super Bowl, the Final Four, the College Football Playoff, the World Cup or WrestleMania had a reason to fly over the Front Range and wave to us while they were taking their respective parties elsewhere.
Not anymore. You want a venue with 60,000-plus seats that can host Taylor Swift in March or April? Check. You want a venue where football fans can still feel the elements on an autumn gameday? Got that, too. Open that bad boy up and let the Colorado sunshine in.
We don’t need the cool kids on the coasts to tell us Denver is the best darn sports city in America. But building a multi-purpose stadium at Burnham Yard gives the Front Range many more chances to prove it — and on the largest stages imaginable.
New Orleans officials recently estimated that Super Bowl LIX was worth more than $1.25 billion in economic impact to the Crescent City. San Antonio boasted an economic bump of $440 million from hosting the Men’s Basketball Final Four this past April.
You wouldn’t want a piece of that?
The Penners do. And thank goodness.
“The goal is to create something that is active on gameday,” Penner stressed to The Post, “but also (for) the rest of the year.”
There’s nothing wrong with Empower Field, which opened in 2001. There’s nothing all that right about it, either, at least from a real estate purview. Even the best ideas, like the best concrete, get weathered by time.
Pro sports owners are playing a different level of Monopoly than they were three decades ago. It’s not just about owning Tennessee Avenue anymore. It’s about gobbling up St. James Place and New York Avenue next door, then making sure a row of strip malls, restaurants and hotels get built on top of them. Collect the rent, funnel some of that money to Bo Nix and Nik Bonitto, pass GO, collect $200. Rinse. Repeat.
Stadiums are so expensive to build that a single-use facility, especially one available for 12-20 dates a year instead of 50-60, isn’t cost-effective. The land around Empower Field is owned by the Metropolitan Football Stadium District. Whatever’s built at Burnham Yard will be owned by the Walton-Penner Group and designed with a neighborhood in mind, not just the stadium itself.
Oh, there will be bumps. That’s inevitable. The city’s slated to foot the bill for public improvements related to connectivity to the stadium — exit ramps, roads, RTD, etc. And Tuesday’s announcements didn’t mention Personal Seat Licenses (PSLs) — a one-time fee paid by fans for the “right” to buy a seat.
If there’s a cloud rolling in behind all those rainbows, it’s that. PSLs seem inevitable here, too — a survey the Broncos sent to fans in 2023 included that very subject.
Before you’re shocked, check out the latest stickers. The Raiders offer a link to purchase PSLs via the team website, with $7,500 being the cheapest single license available as of Tuesday morning. The Titans have offered PSLs for Terrace Level seats at their new Nissan Stadium at a cost of roughly $750-$4,500 per pop. The Buffalo News reported “lower-level” general admission PSL prices for the Bills’ new Highmark Stadium earlier this year were within the $2,500-$8,000 range.
Would a Super Bowl be worth that? Everyone who let hosting a World Cup slip away from soccer-mad Denver in 2026 should land a red card for life. With this new district, hopefully, it won’t happen again.
Five years down the line, who knows? In 2020, as a franchise, the Broncos looked listless and lost — a sleeping giant resting on the laurels of orange-and-blue bloods everywhere.
The Walton-Penner ownership group woke everybody up. The beast is taking names now. It’s buying up land. It’s drawing castles in the sky.
And we hear you. So do they. A Denver playoff game played under a roof? The late, great super fan Tim McKernan must be rolling over in his barrel.
For what it’s worth, Penner sounds as if he wants to keep the lid off as much as possible. And for as many Broncos games as feasible. He gets it. All of it.
“We wanted something that is true to our roots here and looked at domed stadiums,” Penner told The Post. “But (we) just thought that wouldn’t enable us to take advantage of Colorado sunsets and Mile High views and playing in the elements if we choose to.”
Give the Penners an inch, they’ll take a Yard. All the way to the bank.
Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.
Originally Published:
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Sean Keeler
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When you’re watching a game of professional soccer, the action can look almost like a well-choreographed dance. But if you’re not familiar with all the ins and outs of the sport (the offsides rule is confusing, OK?), it can be hard to figure out exactly what’s going on in each play. After all, there are 22 players on the field at any given time. That’s a lot of soccer positions and roles to keep track of. Well, allow us to give you a crash course in the soccer position names and purposes.
The 11 players on each team consist of a goalkeeper and 10 outfielders, typically comprised of four defenders, four midfielders, and two forwards. Each of these positions typically covers a particular area on the field, and within the broader positions, individual players may have a specific role.
Here’s a thorough guide to the different positions in women’s soccer and what each position entails. (And while you’re learning about the game, brush up on how long a match is to whether or not a game can end in a tie.)
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Caitlin flynn
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When World Cup comes to Miami Gardens, Miami-Dade County will help foot the bill. In this 2022 photo, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, second from left, watches as Miami Mayor Francis Suarez bounces a soccer ball on his knee for an early World Cup press event. Pictured left to right: Tom Garfinkel, president and CEO of the Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium; Daniella Levine Cava, Miami-Dade County mayor; Francis Suarez, city of Miami mayor; Reggie Leon, vice mayor of Miami Gardens; and Rolando Aedo, chief operating officer of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau. On Tuesday, May 21, 2024, the Miami-Dade County Commission approved a $35.5 million funding package for World Cup.
mocner@miamiherald.com
The World Cup soccer extravaganza secured nearly $36 million in public funding and services on Tuesday as Miami-Dade commissioners defended the need for tax dollars to subsidize the seven matches coming to Hard Rock Stadium in 2026.
Facing backlash on the original proposal to commit $46 million to the event, the commission voted for a smaller funding package that covers early installments of cash subsidies to be paid by the end of the year. That leaves open the possibility for organizers to receive the rest of the requested public dollars as the summer games get closer.
“We just slashed this … because it looks very heavy,” said Commissioner Anthony Rodriguez, the board’s vice chair. “But we might need more.”
READ MORE: The original $46 million request for World Cup costs sparked controversy
Miami-Dade’s World Cup funding proposal revived the sometimes prickly debate about how much the local government should spend subsidizing sports. The county said it paid $10 million in 2020 to subsidize Super Bowl when it was last in Miami Gardens, and promoters of World Cup say the global soccer tournament promises to be a much bigger deal when it brings a quarter-final match and six other games to Hard Rock as part of its North American schedule.
Daniel Perez, the Miami-Dade Republican on track to be Florida House speaker later this year, last week called on commissioners to reject the funding package because “we have so many needs in our county.” Miami-Dade’s Democratic mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, also said she had “concerns” about the original $46 million proposal.
The smaller package passed 10 to 2, with commissioners Danielle Cohen Higgins and René Garcia voting against it. Commissioner Kionne McGhee did not attend the meeting.
“I think it’s too high of a price tag,” Cohen Higgins said after the vote.
She also criticized the proposal for having no details about why the money was needed. The sponsor of the proposal, Commission Chair Oliver Gilbert, said in a press conference that he did not receive a written request for funding from local World Cup organizers before submitting his original legislation calling for Miami-Dade to spend $46 million on World Cup.
There were two parts to the original funding request for the seven World Cup games scheduled for Miami Gardens over seven weeks in June and July 2026. The first involved $25 million in donated government services, including police and paramedic staffing at Hard Rock that is usually paid for by the stadium. That part of the request was approved.
The second part involved $21 million in cash, with half paid in 2024 and the other half in 2025. Gilbert modified his proposal to drop the 2025 cash pledge, reducing the overall total of $46 million to $35.5 million.
Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, the retired cruise executive recruited to run the FIFA World Cup 2026 Miami Host Committee, told commissioners to expect significant spending in the local economy and the kind of worldwide exposure that’s hard to quantify.
“The benefit to this community is almost priceless if you think about being on the global stage,” she said. For local spending, Lutoff-Perlo pointed to an economic-impact study commissioned by Super Bowl organizers in 2020 that touted about $500 million in economic impact in Miami-Dade. With three of the seven World Cup games in Miami Gardens considered to be high draws — two qualifying games on the way to the final and a consolation match — Lutoff-Perlo said the 2026 impact should be more than $1.5 billion.
She said the group plans to raise more than $100 million from the private sector, on top of the contributions from local governments. In 2022, Miami-Dade also awarded the Miami Dolphins, owner of the Hard Rock, a $15 million bonus for securing World Cup as part of a long-standing deal that provides public funding to offset some of the costs of a stadium renovation the team said cost about $750 million.
Nobody at Tuesday’s meeting presented information from 2020 on how Superbowl spending translated to extra tax income to cover the $10 million Miami-Dade said it paid to subsidize the NFL championship or how the outlays for World Cup would impact future county budgets.
Before voting against the funding package, Garcia said he wanted more information to ensure the dollars are spent appropriately. Gilbert’s proposal has the county’s tax-funded tourism bureau managing the county’s contributions to World Cup.
“That is the people’s money,” Garcia said.
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Brazil will host the 2027 Women’s World Cup after a vote of FIFA’s full membership chose the South American bid over a joint proposal from Belgium, Netherlands and Germany.The FIFA Congress on Friday voted 119-78 for Brazil in the reduced field of two candidates to host the 2027 tournament after a joint bid by the United States and Mexico was pulled late last month, and South Africa withdrew its candidacy in November.Video above: Inside Boston’s blighted White Stadium, city’s plan to make it worthy of a pro soccer teamIt will be the first time the global women’s tournament, first played in 1991, is staged in South America.Brazil was strongly favored to win since October when FIFA brokered deals for the men’s World Cups of 2030 and 2034. It left South American neighbors Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay getting just one game each of the 104 in the 2030 tournament that will be mostly co-hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco.A key point for FIFA was clearing the way for its close ally Saudi Arabia to get the 2034 World Cup uncontested in a fast-track process. South American soccer body CONMEBOL’s agreement to take a small part of the 2030 tournament removed it from the subsequent bidding. The US-Mexico decision to opt-out and focus on bidding for the 2031 World Cup — that decision is due next year — was another indicator of Brazil’s expected to win. The Brazilian bid team hugged and celebrated on the podium after the result was announced, and described it as a victory for women’s soccer, for their country and for South America.”We are a South American country that achieved the victory for women’s soccer,” Brazil’s soccer federation president Ednaldo Rodrigues said before reflecting on recent flooding that has devastated parts of the country. “After the things that impact all Brazilians — a catastrophe due to the climate change — our achievement today, the first Women’s World Cup in South America, will help strengthen us.”It was the first time that all of FIFA’s member associations had the opportunity to weigh in on the host of the women’s tournament. Previously, it was decided by the FIFA Council, the governing body’s decision-making committee.There were 207 of the 211 members eligible to vote in the electronic ballot, which gave three options: Brazil, BNG or abstain.Brazil was even more favored to win the contest, particularly after ranking higher in an evaluation report by a FIFA-appointed pane, FIFA said FRiday.l last week.The next World Cup votes, to endorse the 2030 and 2034 hosts, will be on Dec. 11 in an online congress held remotely.
Brazil will host the 2027 Women’s World Cup after a vote of FIFA’s full membership chose the South American bid over a joint proposal from Belgium, Netherlands and Germany.
The FIFA Congress on Friday voted 119-78 for Brazil in the reduced field of two candidates to host the 2027 tournament after a joint bid by the United States and Mexico was pulled late last month, and South Africa withdrew its candidacy in November.
Video above: Inside Boston’s blighted White Stadium, city’s plan to make it worthy of a pro soccer team
It will be the first time the global women’s tournament, first played in 1991, is staged in South America.
Brazil was strongly favored to win since October when FIFA brokered deals for the men’s World Cups of 2030 and 2034. It left South American neighbors Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay getting just one game each of the 104 in the 2030 tournament that will be mostly co-hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
A key point for FIFA was clearing the way for its close ally Saudi Arabia to get the 2034 World Cup uncontested in a fast-track process. South American soccer body CONMEBOL’s agreement to take a small part of the 2030 tournament removed it from the subsequent bidding.
The US-Mexico decision to opt-out and focus on bidding for the 2031 World Cup — that decision is due next year — was another indicator of Brazil’s expected to win.
The Brazilian bid team hugged and celebrated on the podium after the result was announced, and described it as a victory for women’s soccer, for their country and for South America.
“We are a South American country that achieved the victory for women’s soccer,” Brazil’s soccer federation president Ednaldo Rodrigues said before reflecting on recent flooding that has devastated parts of the country. “After the things that impact all Brazilians — a catastrophe due to the climate change — our achievement today, the first Women’s World Cup in South America, will help strengthen us.”
It was the first time that all of FIFA’s member associations had the opportunity to weigh in on the host of the women’s tournament. Previously, it was decided by the FIFA Council, the governing body’s decision-making committee.
There were 207 of the 211 members eligible to vote in the electronic ballot, which gave three options: Brazil, BNG or abstain.
Brazil was even more favored to win the contest, particularly after ranking higher in an evaluation report by a FIFA-appointed pane, FIFA said FRiday.l last week.
The next World Cup votes, to endorse the 2030 and 2034 hosts, will be on Dec. 11 in an online congress held remotely.
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Sunday, SoFi Stadium was awarded eight games in the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup.
In the months leading up to Sunday’s announcement, reports had SoFi Stadium either being passed over by FIFA or limited in the number of games the stadium would host.
“There was a lot of chatter around the field size, which all of it was unfounded,” Rams chief operating officer Kevin Demoff said Monday. “Nearly every NFL stadium that exists in this tournament is undergoing some kind of renovation for FIFA to accommodate their field size, which is larger than a friendly match that you would host, for Copa America or Gold Cup, which we’ve hosted successfully.
“I think a lot of that was driven by the competition amongst cities to try to knock stadiums down. When you have a stadium as attractive as SoFi Stadium and people competing for events, I think that was driven by other cities, than it was the reality of FIFA.”
SoFi Stadium will host five group stage games, including two for the USMNT. The stadium will also host two games in the Round of 32 and one quarterfinal game.
SoFi’s renovations are underway. Otto Benedict, Senior Vice President of Facility and Campus Operations for SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park, said that construction began Sunday night.
“SoFi Stadium was designed to host a FIFA regulation pitch size, so with our system we have in place now, we will fit a 65 meter (x 105 meter) pitch into our stadium,” he said. “In conversations with FIFA and their needs around auxiliary space for the field, we’re going to expand that and modify our seating system to include a couple more rows in each corner so that we can get to the 73-plus meter distance that FIFA has requested.”
The renovations will create more space to fit the larger field required by FIFA. The first phase, according to the AP, is “replacing concrete in the corners of the lower bowl with bleacher risers that can be rolled back during soccer matches.”
“We’re taking a 90-day sprint for the first phase of construction,” Benedict said. “Then we’ll go back to our normal configuration and go through our concert season and special events this summer and the NFL season.
“Then in ’25, we’ll go back to do some different work there, build out our field for the first time, we’ll have a natural grass field that’s going to be designed to FIFA’s specifics, do some events and testing around that and then we’ll jump into ’26, which will be here before we know it.”
Benedict said there will be an opportunity to add in temporary seating if needed for the World Cup. Also during the tournament, SoFi will adopt the new name “Los Angeles Stadium” due to FIFA’s regulations that prohibit sponsors’ from representing venues.
SoFi Stadium has hosted several soccer events recently, with each drawing more than 70,000.
“It’s been a fun process, it’s been a long process,” said former Galaxy president Chris Klein, who is also co-chair of the L.A. host committee. “Almost seven years to get to this point and we have another 2 1/2 to go. At the outset, we talked about hosting some of the biggest games in the 2026 World Cup and our focus was on the opener for the United States and hosting our men’s national team to open the World Cup.
“We obviously know the final is a big deal as well, but to be able to welcome the world and our country at such an important time for soccer in the United States and to be able to build events around the opening, we’re extremely excited and happy with how things rolled out yesterday (Sunday). The clock starts now to kick off the World Cup in the United States.”
SoFi will also host games in the Copa America this summer, serving as another test for what things might look like for the World Cup.
“It’s been a long, long, bumpy, twisting, winding road to this point,” said LAFC co-president and L.A. committee co-chair Larry Freedman. “When I think about growing up at what might have been the dawn of global football in the U.S. when the North American Soccer League was around and seeing the game grow and never quite catch on at the highest level and I think about Chris (Klein) and the story he tells playing on various levels of our national teams and seeing this sport grow and grow in this region.
“It started with the L.A. Galaxy and all of their rich and great history and then you get LAFC and now Angel City Football Club on the women’s side and you feel how important the game is in this market and this region and to connect it now with the biggest tournament in all of sports, it’s pretty exciting.”
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Damian Calhoun
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The last time disappointment was this tangible at AT&T Stadium was three weeks ago, when the Dallas Cowboys blew it in the playoffs against the Green Bay Packers.
FIFA’s announcement on Sunday that its 2026 World Cup Finals will not be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington was the rare instance of the “big win” that still felt like a devastating defeat.
AT&T Stadium was picked to host nine matches, the most of any site, including a semifinal, but Sunday’s announcement was still the playoff win for DFW that played out like just another Cowboys’ wildcard loss.
“There is some disappointment here; I gotta speak my mind,” former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith said in a press-only event at AT&T Stadium, shortly after the announcement was made.
“I can’t believe we lost to New Jersey.”
Amen, brother.
For more than a year, all of the reports from overseas insisted that the biggest soccer match in the world was coming here. In the months, days and weeks leading up to Sunday’s announcement, none of the local leadership for this bid was sure if these reports were accurate.
They were hopeful, but not entirely sure. They wanted to believe it, and by their reaction on Sunday it was apparent nearly all of them bought the reports.
“I knew it was up in the air; FIFA has been good about keeping things close to the chest,” Arlington mayor Jim Ross said. “We knew that it was just a rumor. We had no proof of any of that. We all wanted that final game. Instead, we got nine of them. I’m happy with that.”
The announcement of the entire schedule was made in a Miami production studio for an awkward made-for-TV event co-hosted by comedian Kevin Hart, rather than Katt Williams. One of America’s co-hosts for this TV event was “soccer star” Kim Kardashian.
Anyone who has ever attended a sporting event at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey knows Emmitt Smith is correct.
“It was a helluva battle,” said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who lobbied FIFA so hard to get the final match here. “We almost got there. We’re disappointed. We are. No question about that.”
This wasn’t about New Jersey, or even the venue. This is about New York City beating out all of DFW, and every other city scheduled to host matches in the 2026 World Cup that will be played between Canada, Mexico and the U.S.
New York is New York. Even the most loyal and ardent supporter of DFW would say, “OK, I get it.”
Jerry said that DFW’s bid could not overcome the reality of a New York City. The perception of New York is hard to beat.
AT&T Stadium may be 84 times the venue of a MetLife Stadium, and not many tourist destinations can compete with New York.
“I know there were some disappointed faces down there, but I’m thrilled,” former Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki said at the event. “I’m excited for this region. The World Cup semifinal will be an incredible atmosphere. I’m not too disappointed. I’m thrilled.”
That is the correct attitude.
Event planners had not planned for any scenario where AT&T Stadium was picked to host nine matches. They had thought four or five.
To host nine matches will be a financial earthquake. That’s nine matches where more than 90,000 fans from all over the world will attend.
“This is like nine Super Bowls,” FC Dallas co-owner Dan Hunt said.
Ross dismissed any idea that one of the reasons Arlington was not awarded the final had anything to do with public transportation.
He’s right.
In the end, this is about New York City. New York versus the rest of North America.
That Arlington’s AT&T Stadium was even in the discussion to host the 2026 World Cup Finals speaks highly to the bid that was presented, and Jerry’s ability to persuade anyone.
“This is the most significant sports event that has taken place in our region,” Jerry said. “We will take it to a level that they didn’t anticipate. I know what this area can do.”
It can do a lot.
It just can’t be New York City.
This story was originally published February 4, 2024, 4:21 PM.
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Mac Engel
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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The 2026 FIFA World Cup Final will be played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19.
FIFA announced the tournament schedule on Sunday.
The opener of the 39-day tournament will be played at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on June 11.
The U.S. Men’s National Team will play its first match at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on June 12, and then travel to Lumen Field in Seattle, before returning to SoFi for the last leg of the group stage.
The third-place game will be at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Last May, FIFA unveiled the official logo for the 2026 World Cup in Times Square.
“I’ve got soccer fever,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said at the unveiling. “I want to give FIFA a big thank you for bringing the World Cup back to New Jersey and New York. From the very beginning, our region has been at the heart of American soccer. We’re ready for the world’s biggest event. Big events are in our blood, they’re in our DNA, and they’re what we do best.”
“New York is the greatest city in the world, so it’s only right that we’re hosting the biggest sporting event in the world,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said. “New Yorkers can’t wait to welcome fans from across the globe to our city to experience our world class sights, bright lights, and our unique, diverse culture.”
The 2026 World Cup will be played in 16 host cities across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and will feature 48 teams.
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The 2026 World Cup Final is coming to East Rutherford, N.J.
FIFA on Sunday announced that MetLife Stadium will be the venue for the 2026 World Cup Final, a tournament that will be hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The 2026 World Cup Final will transpire on Sunday, July 19, FIFA confirmed.
The third-place game will be held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Fla.
FIFA also announced that the World Cup will open on June 11, 2026 in Mexico City at the Estadio Azteca. Canada’s opening match will be played in Toronto (BMO Field) on June 12, 2026, followed by the opening match for the U.S. in Los Angeles (SoFi Stadium) on the same day. The USMNT’s three group stage games will take place in two West Coast cities: Los Angeles and Seattle (Lumen Field).
There are 16 cities across the three countries hosting World Cup games. The United States has 11, which includes Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle.
Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey are the three cities in Mexico and Vancouver and Toronto are the two in Canada.
The U.S. has previously hosted three World Cups in total: the 1994 men’s World Cup and the women’s World Cup in 1999 and 2003.
The 1994 and 1999 finals took place at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., while the 2003 final was held in Washington, D.C.
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Sanjesh Singh
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Shah Rukh Khan is at the stadium, cheering for Team India. Pics of the actor wearing a jersey and watching the match have now surfaced online. The star is joined by Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh. SRK’s kids Suhana Khan and Aryan Khan were also clicked. Actress Anushka Sharma was seen showing her support for her husband, cricketer Virat Kohli. She was clicked with Athiya Shetty who was there to support her husband, cricketer KL Rahul. Ayushmann Khurrana was also seen in the stands.
Here are all the celebs attending the World Cup 2023 final:
1/10
Shah Rukh Khan
2/10
Shah Rukh Khan
3/10
Shah Rukh Khan
4/10
Shah Rukh Khan
5/10
Shah Rukh Khan
6/10
Suhana Khan, Deepika Padukone, Aryan Khan, Ranveer Singh, Ayushmann Khurrana
7/10
Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh
8/10
Anushka Sharma
9/10
Anushka Sharma
10/10
Anushka Sharma, Athiya Shetty
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Edmonton soccer darling Alphonso Davies has been crowned the most influential Canadian sport star, based on Instagram statistics, including number of followers and engagement.
Davies plays for Bayern Munich and the Canadian national team.
The study, conducted by online gambling company PlayOJO, ranked the top 10 Canadian sports stars.
Davies, 22, has over 5.4 million Instagram followers, a 3.2 per cent engagement rate and 173,000 average likes per post.
“Phonsie, especially, is a wonderful news story, both in terms of his upbringing — coming in as a refugee — growing, in terms of the Canadian soccer community, and going and playing for Bayern, is awesome,” said Gilles Prefontaine, a marketing instructor at NAIT’s JR Shaw School of Business.
“His success draws in a whole bunch of young athletes that want to share in that and be part of that with him.”
Prefontaine says soccer has a more global reach than some other sports.
“Being Canadian, we often think of hockey, and that’s because it’s part of our culture, it’s part of our DNA. But we also have to remember that many of these athletes are going to draw from international groups. And so many of the sports that have much larger international volumes will naturally have a bigger impact in terms of that number of followers.”
The study estimates Davies also has the highest potential earnings per sponsored post — an estimated $87,176 per post and $113,424 per reel.
With that power, Prefontaine says, comes responsibility.
“When someone with that kind of notoriety can change behaviour and turn around and influence potentially whole generations of individuals to consume something or do something very different, there is a certain amount of accountability,” he said.
Retired MMA fighter Georges St-Pierre, 42, is ranked second, with over 4.4 million followers, but a lower — 0.6 per cent — engagement rate.
In third place is Ontario’s Tristan Thompson, who has played 12 seasons in the NBA. Thompson has over 3.9 million followers and gets an average of 170,000 likes per post.
Rounding out the top 10 are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (basketball), Genie Bouchard (tennis), Andrew Wiggins (basketball), Adam Copeland (WWE), Jamal Murray (basketball), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (baseball) and RJ Barrett (basketball).
Davies’ story is well known. Born in a refugee camp in Ghana to parents who had fled the civil war in Liberia, Davies came to Canada when he was five.
In July 2016, a 15-year-old Davies left his home in Edmonton to pursue a professional soccer career.
He signed with the Vancouver Whitecaps, becoming the third-youngest in history to sign an MLS deal. Two years later, the Whitecaps agreed to sell Davies to Bayern Munich in a then-record MLS deal, worth possibly in excess of US$22 million.
Davies, then 17, finished out the season with Vancouver before officially joining Bayern in January 2019.
When it comes to Team Canada, he was just 16 when he made his senior debut for the country in June 2017 against Curacao, becoming the youngest men’s player in Canadian team history. He had obtained his Canadian citizenship the week before.
Davies has since become the face of Canadian men’s soccer, on and off the field. In June 2018, he opened Canada’s presentation to the FIFA Council in Moscow as part the joint North American bid, along with the U.S. and Mexico, to host the 2026 World Cup.
His social media accounts are followed by a legion of fans. He has 6.6 million followers on TikTok, 5.1 million on Instagram and 472,800 on Twitter.
“If we’re really thinking about a social media influencer, we’re thinking about someone who is using their platform, their notoriety to change other people’s behaviour,” Prefontaine said.
“A lot of deals with — or should, at least, deal with — the athlete’s or the person’s values.”
He says a successful influencer draws back the curtain of their life and creates a sense of belonging.
“We think about the realms of influence,” Prefontaine said. “Having someone, like a phenom like Phonsie, come from Edmonton, has already done amazing things — for example, for the Edmonton soccer community, where others look at this Edmonton area and realize we’re not a wasteland.
“Because in Canada, we have the Whitecaps and Toronto FC and it’s kind of feeling like everything in between, there’s nothing.”
Davies has endeared himself to many off the field as well. He serves as a global goodwill ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.
“He’s also been very genuine in terms of sharing some of that influence with his local community,” Prefontaine said.
“I’ve seen him flipping burgers and doing a variety of things to promote some local businesses, some different outreach with soccer clubs and soccer communities and that creates a sense of authenticity, but brings Edmonton and what’s going on in Edmonton, to a much higher level at the global stage.”
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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Emily Mertz
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There will be no gold medal for the U.S. at this World Cup. And for the second consecutive time in FIBA’s biggest tournament, there might not be any medal at all for the Americans.
Instead, it’s Germany on the cusp of a world title.
Andreas Obst scored 24 points, Franz Wagner added 22 and Germany shredded the U.S. defense for much of the way in its first win over the Americans — 113-111 in the World Cup semifinals on Friday night.
JAM STA ROSA/AFP via Getty Images
Obst hit the shot of the night, a 3-pointer with 1:15 left to put Germany up by four and just about snuff out a last-ditch U.S. rally. Germany led for 30 of the game’s 40 minutes, the U.S. led for about 4 1/2, and there was little question who was controlling play much of the way.
“We knew the task at hand, and that was to go win,” U.S. guard Austin Reaves said. “And we didn’t do that.”
The U.S., down by 10 midway through the fourth, nearly pulled off a comeback, getting within one point on two separate occasions in the final minutes. But the Americans never got the lead, and it was the Germans jumping and hugging as time expired.
Germany – the last unbeaten team left in the tournament at 7-0 – will play Serbia on Sunday (8:40 a.m. EDT) for the World Cup title. Serbia beat Canada in the first semifinal, getting to its second World Cup final in the last three tournaments; it lost 129-92 to the U.S. in the 2014 championship game.
Canada will play the U.S. for bronze Sunday (4:40 a.m. EDT).
Anthony Edwards scored 23 points for the U.S. (5-2), which got 21 from Reaves, 17 from Mikal Bridges and 15 from Jalen Brunson. The Americans shot 58% — but let Germany shoot 58% as well, and that was the ultimate undoing.
“If you give up 113 points in a 40-minute game, you’re not going to win many of those,” Reaves said.
Germany had been 0-6 against the Americans in World Cup or Olympic competition, usually getting blown out in those games.
Not this time. Once again, even bringing the only roster filled with all NBA players wasn’t enough for the U.S. at the World Cup. The Americans finished seventh at the 2019 World Cup in China; this finish – third or fourth – will technically be better, but nothing other than gold was going to be satisfactory for USA Basketball.
Daniel Theis had 21 points for Germany. Theis has scored 21 or more points six times in his NBA career — and picked Friday for one of the games of his life.
A 35-24 third quarter was basically the difference for Germany, which this time finished the job that it couldn’t pull off when meeting the Americans in Abu Dhabi for an exhibition earlier this summer. Germany led that game by 16 in the second half, then an 18-0 run by the Americans down the stretch led to a 99-91 U.S. win.
It needed similar heroics this time. They almost got there. Key word: almost. This time, Germany finished it off. And when it was over, Reaves couldn’t help but see Schroder — his former teammate with the Los Angeles Lakers — revel in a huge moment for German basketball.
“Tip your hat to him,” Reaves said. “I know how special this moment is for him.”
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Spain won its first Women’s World Cup title less than a year after a player rebellion, holding off England 1-0 on Sunday after Olga Carmona’s first-half goal.
The victory made La Roja the first team to hold the under-17, under-20 and senior world titles at the same time. Spain is the fifth winner in nine editions of the Women’s World Cup and joins Germany as the only two nations to win both the men’s and women’s tournament.
At the final whistle the Spanish players piled on each other in front of their goal. They were still dancing on the field until the trophy presentations, where they kissed the trophy and raised their arms in triumph as golden glitter fell from above.
The Lionesses were trying to bring a World Cup back to England for the first time since 1966, but fell just short.
“They’re a fantastic team. I think first half we weren’t our best, second half, we definitely put the fire in,” England captain Millie Bright said. “But yeah, we just couldn’t finish it today. This is the hard part of football.”
/ Getty Images
For England, Bright said, the loss brought a “huge amount of disappointment.”
“You know at first you feel like you failed with not winning,” she said. “I think in a couple of weeks and it settles it will be really really proud.”
In a heavily attacking game, Carmona’s left-foot strike in the 29th minute was the only goal.
In celebration she raised her jersey to reveal the word “Merchi” scrawled in ink on her undershirt, an apparent nod to her former school.
Carmona’s triumph was followed by personal tragedy, however, as she learned after the game that her father had recently died.
He had been ill and died while Carmona’s mother and other relatives traveled to Australia to watch her play in the final, the Spanish soccer federation said early Monday, without giving more detail on the cause of death.
The family decided to wait until after the title celebrations to give Carmona the news.
“And without knowing it, I had my Star before the game started,” Carmona said on X, formerly known as Twitter, along with a photo of her kissing the winners’ medal. “I know that you gave me the strength to achieve something unique. I know that you were watching me tonight and that you are proud of me. Rest in peace, dad.”
Carmona also scored the game-winner in the 89th minute of Spain’s 2-1 semifinal victory over Sweden, becoming the first player since Carli Lloyd in 2015 to score in a World Cup semifinal and final.
Spain had a chance to double the lead in the 68th but Jenni Hermoso’s penalty attempt was saved by Mary Earps, who anticipated perfectly and dived to her left.
Spain’s victory comes despite a near-mutiny by players last year. Fifteen players said they were stepping away from the national team for their mental health while also calling for a more professional environment.
Three of those players — Ona Batlle, Aitana Bonmatí and Mariona Caldentey — reconciled with the federation and were at the World Cup.
England had momentum going into the tournament after winning the European Championship at home last summer. But three of the team’s best players, captain Leah Williamson, Fran Kirby and Beth Mead, all had knee injuries that kept them off the World Cup squad.
England coach Sarina Wiegman was the first coach to take her teams to back-to-back World Cup title matches. She led the Netherlands to the final in 2019, but fell 2-0 to the United States. She’s now 0-2 in the championship match.
England was coming off a 3-1 victory over host Australia in the semifinal. Lauren James, who was the team’s top scorer with three goals and three assists, was forced to sit out two matches after being suspended for stomping on Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie to open the knockout stage.
While James was available for the final, Wiegman started Ella Toone and used the Chelsea winger as a second-half substitute in a double change to spark the attack.
One of England’s best chances was in the 16th when Lauren Hemp’s blast caromed off the crossbar. A minute later, Salma Paralluelo raced to the goal but couldn’t get a clean shot and Earps stopped Alba Redondo’s attempt in the scramble in front of the net.
Coach Jorge Vilda started 19-year-old Paralluelo, who scored the breakthrough goal for Spain against Sweden, and the game-winner in extra time over the Netherlands in the quarterfinal. Those efforts helped her win the young player of the tournament award, while Earps won the Golden Glove for best goalkeeper and Bonmati won the Golden Ball for best player of World Cup.
Paralluelo nearly scored seconds from half time but her shot hit the post.
Hemp had another chance in the 54th but sent it wide. A minute later she was handed a yellow card for a foul on Laia Codina.
Spain had a chance to double the lead midway through the second half after a video review awarded a penalty after Keira Walsh’s handball. But Earps kept England in the game, as she did with her succession of saves late.
/ Getty Images
Vilda had a challenge in working around two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas, who was still working her way back from a torn ACL last year. For the final, Putellas was on the bench at the start.
Putellas went into the game with 15 seconds left in regulation, but there were 13 minutes of stoppage time.
After the match Putellas was in tears as her teammates danced in front of the flag-waving fans behind the team’s bench.
There were 75,784 fans at the final at Stadium Australia, including tennis great Billie Jean King.
The two teams met last year in the quarterfinals of the Euros, with England coming from behind to beat Spain 2-1 in extra time on Georgia Stanway’s goal.
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SYDNEY (AP) — Spain won its first Women’s World Cup title less than a year after a player rebellion, holding off England 1-0 on Sunday after Olga Carmona’s first-half goal.
The victory made La Roja the first team to hold the under-17, under-20 and senior world titles at the same time. Spain is the fifth winner in nine editions of the Women’s World Cup and joins Germany as the only two nations to win both the men’s and women’s titles.
At the final whistle the Spanish players piled on each other in front of their goal. They were still dancing on the field until the trophy presentations, where they kissed the trophy and raised their arms in triumph as golden glitter fell from above.
The Lionesses were trying to bring a World Cup back to England for the first time since the men won it in 1966. The wait will go on.
“They’re a fantastic team. I think first half we weren’t our best, second half, we definitely put the fire in,” England captain Millie Bright said. “But yeah, we just couldn’t finish it today. This is the hard part of football.”
For England, Bright said, the loss brought a “huge amount of disappointment.”
“You know at first you feel like you failed with not winning,” she said. “I think in a couple of weeks and it settles it will be really really proud.”
In an open game featuring multiple chances for both teams, Carmona’s left-foot strike in the 29th minute — finishing off a fast-breaking counterattack after Lucy Bronze lost possession — remained the only goal.
Carmona also scored the game-winner in the 89th minute of Spain’s 2-1 semifinal victory over Sweden, becoming the first player since Carli Lloyd in 2015 to score in a World Cup semifinal and final.
Spain had a chance to double the lead in the 68th after a VAR review awarded a penalty for Keira Walsh’s handball, but Jenni Hermoso’s penalty attempt was saved by Mary Earps, who anticipated perfectly and dived to her left.
England coach Sarina Wiegman said she thought that would be the momentum shifter for her team.
Spain’s victory comes despite a near-mutiny by players last year. Fifteen players said they were stepping away from the national team for their mental health while also calling for a more professional environment.
Three of those players — Ona Batlle, Aitana Bonmatí and Mariona Caldentey — reconciled with the federation and were at the World Cup.
England had momentum going into the tournament after winning the European Championship at home last summer, including a quarterfinal win over Spain. But three of the team’s best players, captain Leah Williamson, Fran Kirby and Beth Mead, all had knee injuries that kept them off the World Cup squad.
Wiegman was the first coach to take her teams to back-to-back World Cup title matches. She led the Netherlands to the final in 2019, but fell 2-0 to the United States. She’s now 0-2 in the championship match.
England was coming off a 3-1 victory over host Australia in the semifinal. Lauren James, who was the team’s top scorer with three goals and three assists, was forced to sit out two matches after being suspended for stomping on Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie to open the knockout stage.
While James was available for the final, Wiegman started Ella Toone and used the Chelsea winger as a second-half substitute in a double change to spark the attack.
One of England’s best chances was in the 16th when Lauren Hemp’s blast caromed off the crossbar. A minute later, Salma Paralluelo raced toward goal but couldn’t get a clean shot and Earps stopped Alba Redondo’s attempt in the scramble in front of the net.
Coach Jorge Vilda started 19-year-old Paralluelo, who scored the breakthrough goal for Spain against Sweden, and the game-winner in extra time over the Netherlands in the quarterfinal. Those efforts helped her win the young player of the tournament award, while Earps won the Golden Glove for best goalkeeper and Bonmati won the Golden Ball for best player of World Cup.
Paralluelo nearly scored seconds from half time but her shot hit the post.
Hemp had another chance in the 54th but sent it wide. A minute later she was handed a yellow card for a foul on Laia Codina.
Vilda had a challenge in working around two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas, who was still working her way back from a torn ACL last year. For the final, Putellas was on the bench at the start.
Putellas went into the game with 15 seconds left in regulation, but there were 13 minutes of stoppage time.
After the match Putellas was in tears as her teammates danced in front of the flag-waving fans behind the team’s bench.
There were 75,784 fans at the final at Stadium Australia, including tennis great Billie Jean King, increasing the record attendance for the tournament to more than 1.975 million.
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup
SYDNEY (AP) — Spain won the Women’s World Cup for the first time with Olga Carmona’s first-half strike giving La Roja a 1-0 victory over England in Sunday’s final.
Both teams were playing in the final for the first time. The win gave the Spanish women their first major international trophy and avenged a quarterfinal loss to eventual champion England in the European championship last year.
The Lionesses went into the final unbeaten and aiming to bring a World Cup back to England for the first time since 1966.
England goalkeeper Mary Earps made a stunning save to Jenni Hermoso’s penalty kick in the 70th after Keira Walsh was penalized for a hand ball on a VAR review.
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup
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