World Cup 2026: 1 year out, host cities prepare to seize their moment in spotlight

For 39 days during the summer of 2026, the World Cup will take center stage

Six and a half million fans will flock to football matches across the United States, Canada and Mexico

It's being hyped as the biggest sporting event in history. Each host city is expected to see an average of 450,000 visitors over the course of the tournament

One year out, many of those city officials acknowledge there are still plenty of obstacles and a lot of work

but they feel like they're on track for a successful event. The more important task, some say, is making the most of a once-in-a-generation opportunity

This will be the first World Cup in North America since 1994, when the U.S. was the lone host

An event that still holds the record for in-stadium attendance, a record likely to be broken next year

The 2026 event will be the first tournament with an expanded 48-country format, up from 32

A total of 104 matches will be spread over the 16 host cities, 11 in the U.S., 3 in Mexico, and 2 in Canada

Atlanta will host 8 matches at 71,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and the city is leaning on its experience

Big sporting events are nothing new in the ATL, starting with the Olympic Games in 1996

Add to that four NCAA Final Fours, two Super Bowls, and the 2025 College Football National Championship, just to name a few

Nora Lee Garcia is the CEO of Showcase Atlanta, an organization created to help ensure big events like the World Cup have a positive impact on the city

She joined me from Atlanta to talk about how they plan to make that happen. This is a historic moment for everybody including Atlanta that has about 30 years under their belt of experience expertise and infrastructure right And so for all of us as experienced as we are as successful as we been in the past this will be new

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens expects the tournament to generate $1 billion in revenue

So they're spending money to make money. Back in October, the city approved a $120 million bond for bridge, road and sidewalk improvements

That includes adding more streetlights to the downtown area. Walkability is key to a successful event

Community initiatives like soccer in the streets are drawing more attention because of the tournament

Youth soccer fields are being built around the region and programs are being rolled out to help small businesses take advantage of the expected flood of visitors

Garcia wants the city's best features on display. A lot of us joke that Atlanta is full, but that trend is not stopping

And I think the World Cup will open up a new, I think, image of how much Atlanta has grown

Do everything that you plan to bloom where you're planted for the community, right, to rise up to what

Welcome the world. The world is going to be at everybody's doorstep. Across the country, the CEO of Seattle 2026 has a similar mindset

The Emerald City will host six matches, including Team USA for at least one of them

They're also a three-hour drive south of Vancouver, British Columbia, where seven more matches will take place

Peter Tomozawa believes the World Cup can change his city much like the World's Fair in 1962 that put Seattle on the proverbial map

His group is in the middle of a major campaign to fund more than 40 projects related to the tournament

He's hoping they'll leave a lasting legacy. There be no other time that the spotlight will be as big and shining as bright as on our community as during the World Cup We can use this event to galvanize our communities to really invest invest in children invest in culture invest in our communities

Seattle 2026, along with the Seattle Sounders Rave Foundation, has already built more than 26

soccer fields for kids in underserved communities around the region, including on native tribal lands

Tomozawa's group designed a unity loop to take fans around the city

The four and a quarter mile walking tour winds from the stadium to the newly rebuilt waterfront to the Space Needle through downtown and back to Lumen Field

It'll remain in place after the tournament, much like Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park, which quickly became one of the top tourist attractions in the city and a catalyst for downtown revival

Seattle could use a little more of that. After years of struggling with crime, office vacancies, and economic uncertainty, its downtown core is improving

Seattle police say violent crime is down 15% in the last year

The Downtown Seattle Association says local visitors surged 20% in 2024. Foot traffic surpassed pre-pandemic levels for the first time, and 88 new ground-level businesses opened downtown

An economic bump from the World Cup could help complete the comeback

The state legislature recently approved $45 million for stadium infrastructure and transportation upgrades

Here at Seattle Center, the city is going to host massive watch parties throughout the World Cup

And to give you an example of how cities are changing to accommodate the tournament, you can now take your beverage all throughout this park without any restrictions

It's called the sip and stroll law, and it was enacted in April of 2025

so that fans aren't confined to beer gardens. And it could become so popular it lasts well past the World Cup The federal government is chipping in as well In addition to President Trump World Cup task force Tom Ozawa detailed a recent meeting with the Office of Management and Budget

involving the CEOs from all 11 American host cities. We asked the federal government

for $625 million collectively to secure the tournament. After a couple of days of meetings and presentations

the OMB agreed to grant the assistance. Tom Ozawa says it's the best example he has so far

of all 11 cities working together to overcome one of their biggest challenges

We're from all parts of this country. We're from all different parts of different politics, different everything

But this is what's the beauty of the World Cup. It's an event that brings people together regardless of what you believe in

and what your orientation is, the color of your skin, doesn't matter. It's a unifying event

Tomozawa and Norale Garcia certainly have the public relations part of the job down pat

But that's the point. They want everyone to have a stake in the outcome

How can we make the excitement of the World Cup something that's not just accessible

but a we are here moment for everybody, whether you can afford a ticket or not? True

From a host city perspective, the World Cup sounds like a win-win for everybody

You just hope they don't receive any red cards along the way

According to the U.S. Travel Association, a group of former government officials and industry experts

security and transportation both locally and at points of entry around the U.S. remain a major concern

International visa delays and ongoing trade war. The list is significant with one year to go

We'll bring you some of those stories here at san.com as we inch closer to kickoff

For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis