Miami to host 2026 World Cup third place game plus six matches in historic tournament
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Miami will host the third place "Bronze" final in the 2026 FIFA World Cup plus a round of 32 and a quarterfinal contest, global soccer's governing body revealed on Sunday.
Miami will also host four FIFA World Cup group stage games in 2026 for a total of seven matches.
The first round games at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens will be on Monday June 15, Sunday June 21, Wednesday June 24 and Saturday June 27.
The U.S. men's team will not play first round games in South Florida, however. Their three group stage matches will be played in Los Angeles and Seattle.
The tournament will start on June 11 and end on July 19.
FIFA's 2026 World Cup will be the largest ever. It will include three host countries, the United States, Canada and Mexico, and 16 cities cities will stage games. The tournament will have an expanded field of 48 teams separated into 12 groups.
The top two in each group will move to the knockout stage. They will be joined by the eight best third place teams.
"This whole calendar has been designed to make sure that the fans can travel with the teams in a way that is not too burdensome," said Gianni Infantino, president of the governing body, President of Fédération Internationale de Football Association, known as FIFA.
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Which 48 teams will compete in the quadrennial tournament will not be decided until World Cup qualifying ends in early 2026.
FIFA also announced the tournament's first game will be held on June 11, 2026 in Mexico City. The first World Cup match ever in Canada will be in Toronto.
The World Cup final will be played in MetLife Stadium outside of New York City.
Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami to host 2026 FIFA World Cup third place game plus five matches
