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City of Houston getting ready for big World Cup announcement on Thursday
FOX 26 Reporter Matthew Seedorff spoke with Houstonians who are anticipating the big announcement on Thursday.
HOUSTON - On Thursday, FIFA is expected to announce which cities will host matches for the 2026 World Cup.
"There’s no event bigger than the World Cup," said Chris Canetti, President of the Houston 2026 World Cup Bid Committee. "To be able to bring an event of that size and magnitude to Houston would be absolutely amazing."
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The combined North American bid will include three cities in Mexico, three in Canada, and 10 in the United States.
"It’s going to be Houston, one of them, for sure," said soccer fan Alma Echeverria. "If it’s not Houston, I’ll go wherever the closest [match is]. Probably Mexico, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be in Houston."
The American cities in consideration to host the World Cup matches are Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York/New Jersey, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC/Baltimore.
"Our international soccer matches here have done exceptionally well," said Michael Heckman, President and CEO of Houston First Corporation. "Houston is a great sports town and is the most welcoming city in the world."
"If we’re fortunate enough to be chosen as a host city, we anticipate hosting five or six matches, sold-out at NRG Stadium, over the course of three weeks," said Canetti. "This would be the equivalent of hosting five or six Super Bowls in our city."
It’s estimated five or six World Cup matches in Houston would generate close to a billion dollars.
Brian Ching, a former soccer player for Team USA in the 2006 World Cup, now owns Pitch 25 in Houston. Ching says some of his favorite memories are from his experience with the World Cup.
"I would love Houstonians to be able to experience that," said Ching. "You look at the diversity of our city, it kind of blends in with the world. As far as being the perfect city to host a World Cup game, you have to think about Houston."
The big announcement is scheduled to take place Thursday at 4 p.m. CT.