The 2026 World Cup, hosted primarily by the United States but also with few games in Canada and Mexico, commences in less than two weeks. Chicago, the third-biggest city by population in the primary host nation, won’t be hosting any of the World Cup matches. It certainly seems odd to say that, especially when you consider how Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears and Chicago Fire, is completely on par with numerous other hosting venies in other American cities.
FIFA was interested in staging games in Chicago this summer; but the city was not.
This pattern will seemingly repeat when the United States (along with Mexico, Jamaica and Costa Rica) hosts the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2031. Rahm Emanuel, Chicago’s Mayor at the time, withdrew the city’s bid in 2018, saying at the time that FIFA wanted a “blank check” for the costs that would come staging the event.
Given how FIFA’s greed and price gouging have been the lead story in the run-up to this World Cup, it’s easy to see where Emanuel was coming from.
“The guys from international soccer wanted us to underwrite their sporting event,” Rahm said at the time. “I am not going to write a company a blank check that can fleece the taxpayers.”
Now the Mayor is Brandon Johnson, but the disinterest in meeting FIFA’s demands remains the same. According to The Sports Bank’s sources within the city’s government, Chicago currently has no desire to stage a match in the 2031 Women’s World Cup.
Again, the issue is FIFA being difficult to work with.
Soldier Field will host the United States Men’s National Team’s final friendly before this tournament however.
The USMNT and Germany will meet this Saturday, in an exhibition that’s being marketed as the “Send-off Match.”
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, Ratings and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.