The Azteca aims to be an important venue in the 2026 World Cup (2021) 2:00
(CNN) --
The cities that have applied to host matches at the 2026 men's World Cup, the first edition to feature 48 teams and the first to be held in three countries, will find out on Thursday if they were chosen.
In all, FIFA, world soccer's governing body, is expected to announce 16 host cities, 10 of which will be in the United States, plus three in Canada and another three in Mexico.
This is how the groups of the Qatar 2022 World Cup were
FIFA announced in April that Vancouver, Canada had successfully submitted a late application to be considered a host city, leaving 22 candidates in total.
Here are the candidate cities from the three countries eagerly awaiting Thursday's decision:
USA
Atlanta
Boston
Cincinnati
Dallas
Denver
houston
Kansas City
The Angels
Miami
Nashville
New York/New Jersey
Orlando
Philadelphia
San Francisco
Seattle
Baltimore/Washington
Mexico
Guadalajara
Mexico City
Monterey
Canada
Edmonton
toronto
vancouver
The announcement ceremony will begin at 5 pm ET on Thursday.
"Over the last few months we have had open exchanges with the candidate host cities on a number of different topics," Colin Smith, FIFA's director of tournaments and events, said in a statement last month.
"We are so appreciative and impressed by how dedicated and innovative everyone is.
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"The host cities will be absolutely key to ensuring the success of the competition. We look forward to working with them to deliver what will undoubtedly be the biggest FIFA World Cup in history."
It will be the second time that the United States has hosted the World Cup after the first in 1994, and the third time for Mexico, which also hosted in 1970 and 1984. It will be the first time that a World Cup match has been held. Men's World Cup in Canada, although the country hosted the Women's World Cup in 2015.
Host cities that are successful in their bids could reap huge financial benefits, according to a 2018 US Soccer study, with more than $5 billion in economic activity created in North America.
The study said cities chosen to host World Cup matches could have estimated economic activity between $160 million and $620 million.
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