If the U.S. men’s national team finishes first or second in its group, it wouldn’t even play on the East Coast at all unless it makes the final or third-place game.
When Philadelphia won a spot as a host for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, lots of local soccer fans immediately started dreaming of the United States playing in the nation’s birthplace.
And when news came that the city would host a round-of-16 game on Independence Day, it was easy to hope that the U.S. would play here on the nation’s 250th birthday, making the city the centerpiece of the national party.
Unfortunately, FIFA’s latest announcement about the 2026 schedule has all but dashed those dreams. World soccer’s governing body confirmed the Americans’ pathway in the tournament on Wednesday, and while they may come here, the odds are slim.
We already knew that the U.S. is scheduled to play its group games in the Los Angeles area on June 12, Seattle on June 19, and again in L.A. on June 25. Now we know where the knockout-round games will be, depending on where the team finishes in Group D.
If the U.S. finishes first, it would go to the Bay Area for the round of 32 on July 1, back to Seattle for the round of 16 on July 6, back to L.A. for the quarterfinals on July 10, and the Dallas area for the semifinals on July 14.
» READ MORE: Philadelphia will host 6 games in the 2026 World Cup, including on July 4
That means the home team would play in just four of the 12 U.S. markets that will host games, a far lower portion than most World Cup hosts do. It also means the Americans wouldn’t play anywhere in the Eastern time zone short of making the final (in East Rutherford, N.J.), or the third-place game (in the Miami area).
The flip side is it would greatly reduce the travel footprint and the carbon footprint that generally comes with it.
For memory’s sake, in 1994, the last time the FIFA World Cup was held in the United States, the U.S. men played group games in Detroit, then back-to-back in the L.A. area, then the Bay Area in the round of 16, where they lost to Brazil.
If the U.S. finishes second in its group this time, it would go to Dallas for the round of 32 on July 3, Atlanta for the round of 16 on July 7, Kansas City for the quarterfinals on July 11, and back to Atlanta for the semis on July 15.
If the U.S. finishes third in its group, it could go in a few directions. The top eight third-place finishers from the 12 groups advance to the round of 32, and the matchups depend on which groups the eight come from.
There are three possible scenarios, and two would put the U.S. in Philadelphia for the round of 16: beating the Group E winner in Foxborough, Mass., on June 29, or beating the Group I winner in the Meadowlands on June 30.
» READ MORE: Philly’s 2026 World Cup games are the city’s ‘moment on the global stage,’ local official says
The third scenario would send the U.S. to Kansas City to face the winner of Group K on July 13. Win that game, and the U.S. would cross the border to Vancouver for the round of 16. The rest of that pathway would go back to Kansas City for the quarterfinals, then to Atlanta for the semis.
You can decide for yourself whether the possibility of playing in Philadelphia on July 4 is worth the headache that would come with the U.S. finishing third in its group after getting a top seed in the draw as a cohost.
At least a little bit of good news came from Tuesday’s announcement: We now know more about which games Philadelphia will be hosting.
The five group stage games come from, in order: Group E on June 14, Group C on June 19, Group I on June 22, Group E on June 25, and Group L on June 28.
For the round-of-16 games, one team will come from the June 29 round-of-32 match in Foxborough: the Group E winner vs. a third-place team from Group A, B, C, D, or F. The other will come from the June 30 game in East Rutherford: the Group I winner vs. a third-place team from Group C, D, F, G, or H.
FIFA plans to announce the draw sometime late next year.
Finally, FIFA published a list of potential sites and hotels that teams can use as their base camps before and during the group stage. The Union’s Subaru Park, and the team’s campus next to it, is the one location here, and the associated hotel is the Hotel Du Pont in Wilmington.
There will be other sites around the region that teams can use for practices when they get to town for games.
» READ MORE: The Linc might look different during the 2026 World Cup. Here are some examples of how.
