SoFi Stadium to host 2026 World Cup soccer

Wave Staff and Wire Reports

INGLEWOOD — Chalk up another major sporting event for SoFi Stadium.

The stadium, which hosted the Super Bowl this past February and is scheduled to host the college football national championship game next January, will be one of 16 North American stadiums to host a game in the 2026 World Cup soccer tournament.

“As a world-class soccer city with numerous iconic stadiums as well as three incredible professional soccer teams — the Los Angeles area celebrates SoFi Stadium being selected to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” the Los Angeles World Cup Host Committee said in a statement June 16. “We look forward to partnering with FIFA to ensure that the event will deliver tangible, significant and enduring benefits to the Greater Los Angeles community.

“Our organizations have worked diligently to develop and submit a bid for the Los Angeles area to serve as a host for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Our experience when the Rose Bowl hosted the finals of the 1994 FIFA World Cup and 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, as well as the world-class infrastructure, vibrant communities and our status as one of the nation’s richest soccer cultures set the Los Angeles region apart.”

SoFi Stadium was selected as the Los Angeles host site over the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, which hosted matches in the 1994 World Cup and the 1999 Women’s World Cup.

As part of the effort to be selected to host games, the Los Angeles World Cup Host Committee led FIFA officials on tours of the Rose Bowl and SoFi Stadium last November.

The host committee’s effort was led by the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission, which includes the Los Angeles Rams, SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park, Rose Bowl, Los Angeles Football Club and L.A. Galaxy.

Along with Los Angeles, U.S. cities set to host matches during the 2026 World Cup are Seattle, San Francisco, Kansas City, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami and the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area.

Mexico will host games in Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterey. Canada will host games in Toronto and Vancouver.

SoFi Stadium — which is home to the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers — opened on Sept. 13, 2020. It cost an estimated $5.5 billion to build. It was built on the site of the former Hollywood Park racetrack, and sits adjacent to the Forum.