Montreal Is Officially Passing On Hosting The 2026 FIFA World Cup

But Edmonton and Toronto might get World Cup games...
Montreal Is Officially Passing On Hosting The 2026 FIFA World Cup
Staff Writer

Soccer fans in Montreal will be sad to find out that Montreal won't host any 2026 FIFA World Cup games because the city has withdrawn its bid.

As confirmed by Canada Soccer and the City of Montreal on Tuesday morning, "following the withdrawal of a major financial partner" and a "lack of funding," according to a city press release, Montreal is backing out of the selection process and won't host any games.

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The honours instead, will go to Toronto and Edmonton, according to Canada Soccer, who are maintaining their bids in the selection process to be host cities for the 2026 World Cup, which will be split between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

For its part, Montreal pointed to the Quebec government and claimed that "the withdrawal of support from the Quebec government prevents Montreal from continuing the selection stages as the host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup."

"We thank the City of Montréal for their participation in the bid process and look forward to continuing our collaboration with the respective municipal and provincial governments along with the Government of Canada in support of the selection of Edmonton, Alberta and Toronto, Ontario as host cities for the FIFA World Cup 2026," Canada Soccer wrote in a press release.

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  • Teddy Elliot
  • Teddy Elliot
    Teddy Elliot was a Staff Writer for MTL Blog. He was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec and has a B.A. in Literature. Teddy has been a journalist for three years and was once an English teacher. His creative work has appeared in The Blasted Tree and Parenthetical Magazine. When he's not chasing scoops, Teddy can be found cheering on Aston Villa and listening to 80s power ballads. He was shortlisted for a Digital Publishing Award in 2021.

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