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Houston will host five group stage matches and two knockout round games for the 2026 Men’s FIFA World Cup.
Houston will host five group stage matches and two knockout round games for the 2026 Men’s FIFA World Cup.
Starting Sunday, June 14, there will be a game every three days at NRG Stadium during the group stage round. The other group stage games will be June 17, June 20, June 23 and June 26.
Houston will host a Round of 32 knockout game on Monday, June 29 and a Round of 16 knockout game on Saturday, July 4. That Independence Day game will be the last one to take place in Houston for the tournament.
“Hosting such a prestigious event will provide an incredible opportunity for our city to showcase its culture, hospitality, and infrastructure on a global stage,” said Houston Mayor John Whitmire in a statement.
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There will be no U.S. Men’s National Team or Mexico games for the group stage in Houston. Houston will not host a quarterfinal, semifinal or the final.
Dallas, which had long been rumored to host the final at AT&T Stadium, will host a semifinal. The final match will be played in New York/New Jersey at MetLife Stadium.
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2026 will be the first time an expanded tournament takes place. FIFA expanded the number of teams playing from 32 to 48. That also means there were more matches to award to various cities — 104 up from the previous 64.
The match announcements took place Sunday afternoon in a live televised event produced by FIFA and aired on FOX, which owns the English language broadcast rights in the United States.
You can hear more about the World Cup matches coming to Houston in this Houston Matters conversation with Chris Canetti, President of the Houston 2026 World Cup Bid Committee:
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