Destination America: Planning a co-hosted World Cup

On Friday it was reported by ESPNFC that officials from the United States and Mexico were openly discussing a joint World Cup bid for their two countries. The Mexico Federation's president even went on record about a private meeting with FIFA's new president about the possibility and Gianni Infantino was apparently very supportive of the idea.

This is an actual possibility for the 2026 World Cup hosting situation. CONCACAF's two biggest rivals combining to host a World Cup, who could have ever imagined? But what exactly would such a scenario look like? We pondered it for a while and thought it would be interesting to try and plan the USA's side of the responsibilities.

Looking back at the last co-hosted World Cup in 2002 when South Korea and Japan hosted, 10 different venues in each country were chosen as host locations. There has been talk by Infantino about expanding the tournament to 40 teams, which could add an extra one or two host cities. However, we chose to stick to the 2002 model in this exercise.

We've sorted through every stadium in the United States by location, capacity, and logistics. Here is the fairest plan we could come up with:

Group Stage

University of Phoenix Stadium (Arizona), Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta), Rose Bowl (Los Angeles), AT&T Stadium (Dallas), Mile High Stadium (Denver), Ford Field (Detroit), Sun Life Stadium (Miami), MetLife Stadium (New Jersey), Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia), Levi's Stadium (Santa Clara)

When picking 10 cities and stadiums in the United States you have to spread around the love. There are many venues worthy of the title of World Cup host. Only the biggest and grandest stadiums are considered candidates, but you have spread it around the country.

Four western cities in Arizona, Denver, LA, and Santa Clara are our picks. LA is an obvious pick, while Arizona's immaculate venue is one of the better big game arenas in the country. Denver and Santa Clara both boast beautiful stadiums in big cities that would make for great tourist destinations.

Preferably Miami will have a brand new massive stadium to host a few World Cup matches by 2026, but their market is too big to ignore. Atlanta's new multi-purpose stadium will be one of the best venues in the world and will host Super Bowl's, national championship games, and other countless big events making it a great candidate as long as the planned turf is playable.

New Jersey and Philadelphia are no strangers to hosting big time soccer matches, so it shouldn't be too difficult for them to play host during a World Cup.

Detroit and Dallas cover the central region of the country. High quality soccer for all!

Round of 16

Arizona, Atlanta, Detroit, Miami

Quarterfinals

New Jersey, Santa Clara

Semifinals

Los Angeles

Final

Dallas

Money talks and FIFA is no stranger to listening when it does. Jerry Jones will find a way to get the 2026 World Cup Final in his gigantic monstrosity of a stadium in Dallas. The USA win the 2026 World Cup with the Cowboy cheerleaders dancing on the sidelines. Soccer has finally taken over as the national pastime.