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ATLANTA (CBS46) – The World Cup is one of the biggest sporting events in the world and now the city of Atlanta hopes to score World Cup matches in the city in 2026.
“This is important when you are hosting a world event for a long time with visitors from all over the world,†said Atlanta Sports Council chairman Dan Corso.
Atlanta is one of nine U.S. candidates and is the third stop on a nine-day FIFA city tour. The FIFA delegation met the media and other sports leaders on Friday inside the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“Obviously we know that Atlanta has now become a real football city. Just like the real football being played around the world,” said Victor Montagliani, FIFA vice president and Concacaf president.
The delegation praised our stadium, the World Congress Center, the Olympic Park and our hotel rooms. These are all important assets needed to host a World Cup.
“Atlanta has a long history of events and obviously has a fantastic stadium here and we’ll discuss that more in the afternoon. We have to transform the artificial pitch surface into an absolute world class grass pitch that can live in a closed or semi-closed environment if the roof is an open environment for a long time, â€FIFA Chief Tournaments & Events told Officer Colin Smith.
FIFA will also visit Boston, Philadelphia, Nashville and Miami as potential host venues. In addition, they will take into consideration the cities of Canada and Mexico. If Atlanta is selected, the World Cup could give the city its biggest economic boost.
“There are studies out there that show it’s several hundred million dollars as a projection. It really depends on how many matches a city hosts, â€said Corso.
FIFA will decide on the host cities early next year for the 2026 World Cup.
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