After visiting 17 cities in September and October, FIFA will carry out the third round of its inspection tour of the FIFA World Cup 2026 candidate host cities from 17 to 22 November as a delegation led by Concacaf President and FIFA Vice-President Victor Montagliani visits Edmonton, Mexico City, Guadalajara, Los Angeles and Toronto.

The visits come after many virtual exchanges over the last two years, and they will give the opportunity for the FIFA delegation to meet with the candidate host city representatives and local stakeholders to discuss key topics such as venue management, infrastructure and sustainability as well as commercial, legal and legacy matters. The FIFA experts will also inspect essential infrastructure, such as stadiums, training facilities and potential FIFA Fan Festival™ venues.

After the conclusion of the inspection tour, a thorough assessment will follow and FIFA expects to finalise the selection process by Q1/Q2 2022.

Ahead of this third round of visits, FIFA has already taken an important step towards the delivery of the tournament in one of the host countries by appointing Peter Montopoli as Chief Operating Officer Canada for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Montopoli, who has been General Secretary of Canada Soccer for the last 14 years, will bring strong leadership and extensive experience in delivering successful international tournaments, in particular as CEO of the National Organising Committee for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ and Canada’s Bid Director for the successful United 2026 bid.

“I would like to thank FIFA for the opportunity to be a part of the once-in-a-generation opportunity to lead Canada’s co-hosting of the FIFA World Cup 2026 along with Mexico and the United States and I very much look forward to working with all stakeholders to deliver the world’s largest single-sport event,” said Peter Montopoli.