The city of Atlanta has hosted Final Fours, Super Bowls, the 1996 Olympics, and now there is the possibility that come Thursday another event may be added to that list, the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
When Aurthur Blank decided to bring MLS Soccer to Atlanta, not many imagined how much the city would embrace ATL United and turn Atlanta into a major soccer town. Mercedes-Benz Stadium is a first-class venue which regularly draws over 40,000 fans for a home match. With the success of Atlanta United there is a ferocious appetite for soccer in the city and a fanbase that lives and dies with every second of play. Without Atlanta United, the city would not even be in the conversation to host the World Cup in 2026 and that spot would likely go to another MLS club’s home stadium.
Jason Longshore, in Full Time Report, brought up an interesting point about what a World Cup game would mean to Atlanta in terms of American sports history by explaining, “If you have a World Cup, Atlanta becomes one of only two cities in the United States to host an Olympics and a World Cup game along with Los Angeles.”
That possibility puts the city in very prestigious territory in terms of Sports cities in the United States and President of Atlanta United Darren Eales, while on with Dukes & Bell, said “It would just be so amazing if we were selected as a host city in 2026. I think it would go down there as one of the top sports moments in Atlanta history.” On top of that a hosting of a game in the 2026 World Cup comes in toe with the 30-year anniversary of Atlanta being the host city for the Olympics.