Predicting the host towns for 2026 Planet Cup

World Cup 2026 host cities and the reggae connection

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is the first edition shared by three countries and the first with 48 teams. The host cities were settled years in advance, so there is nothing left to predict. Sixteen cities were chosen: eleven in the United States, three in Mexico and two in Canada.

• United States: New York/New Jersey, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Miami, Seattle, San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, Philadelphia and Kansas City
• Mexico: Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey
• Canada: Toronto and Vancouver

Mexico City's Estadio Azteca makes history again. It has already staged World Cup finals in 1970 and 1986, and it becomes the first stadium to host matches at three different tournaments.

Why football fans and reggae fans overlap

Football and Jamaican music have shared terraces and sound systems for decades. Bob Marley was famously passionate about the game and played it whenever he could, even on tour. Jamaica's qualification for France 1998 produced a wave of celebratory tunes and dancehall anthems. Several of the 2026 host cities have large Caribbean communities and long-running sound system scenes, especially Miami, New York, Toronto and Atlanta. Watch parties there often sound more like a dance than a sports bar.

CONCACAF nations will have extra places in an expanded tournament, and Caribbean teams will have more realistic hopes of qualifying. That makes the summer especially interesting for fans who follow both the riddims and the results.

Planning a summer of football and festivals

The tournament runs through the European festival season. If you want to combine screenings with live music, check the official match schedule before committing to dates. Many open-air events in Germany set up big screens for key games, but this varies from year to year. Keep an eye on our lineup pages for festival plans. For getting to Fulda between kick-offs and concerts, see the travel guide.