The 2026 World Cup, which will be organized by Mexico, the United States and Canada, could have one or three opening matches

FIFA Vice President Victor Montagliani said on Wednesday that the entity is analyzing whether the 2026 World Cup, which will be organized by Mexico, the United States and Canada, will have one or three opening matches.

“We have nothing concrete, the decision will be made in February or March 2022. In 2018 the presentation document proposed three opening matches, one for each country,” he explained at a press conference in Monterrey, northeast Mexico.

“Now we are on the same idea, but we need time to analyze it. The most important thing is the stadiums, but also the competition format ”, he added.

A FIFA delegation, led by Montagliani, also president of Concacaf, is in the city of Monterrey where they will evaluate the Rayados stadium, BBVA, which is one of the three proposed headquarters of the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) for the 2026 World Cup.

In addition to reviewing the property located in the municipality of Guadalupe, near Monterrey, the capital of the state of Nuevo León, FIFA officials will also test urban logistics and the authorities.

“The stadiums in Mexico are fabulous like the one in Monterrey here. They are different from the ones we have in the United States, which are designed for American football and not soccer like here ”, added the Concacaf chief.

Together with BBVA, the FMF proposed the Akron de las Chivas stadium in Guadalajara and the mythical Azteca stadium, in the capital, which seeks to host a World Cup opening match for the third time after doing so in the 1970 and 1986 editions .

“All stadium problems can be solved either here, at Azteca or in New York. We are here for that, to work on the problems we find and solve them in the next three or four months when we define the 16 locations, ”Montagliani said.

The director of FIFA events and tournaments, Colin Smith, mentioned that among the aspects that will be tested in Monterrey will be transportation, accommodation for players and tourists, sustainability and conditions for the work of the media.

“We will see how the security organizations of the city work, what are the facilities in terms of transport and accommodation and in those terms a global analysis is made for the steps to follow,” he commented. (D)