Montreal withdraws from hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup

The city of Montreal will no longer host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

“FIFA has been informed by Canada Soccer of the decision taken by the City of Montreal to withdraw from the venue selection process for 2026 World Cup,” stated the FIFA World Cup site.

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There was no reason provided for the withdrawal but CBC delineated that the reason behind this was a lack of financial support from the Quebec provincial government. They denied funding the event, illustrating the cost overruns that would have been not easy to explain to taxpayers.

The governing body for the sport in the country Canada Soccer stated via their site: “Canada Soccer acknowledges that the City of Montreal, Quebec has announced that they will not continue the selection process as a candidate host city for the FIFA World Cup 2026. ”

FIFA thanked Montreal for its involvement and the efforts of the local stakeholders. The international governing body of football said in their statement that they continue and look forward to working with the host associations of Canada, Mexico and the United States which will be co-hosting the 2026 World Cup.

The event is programmed to be organised in June and July 2026 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.