In the summer of 2026, the world’s “Beautiful Game” will reach North America. The World Cup, the largest international soccer tournament held every four years, was last hosted in North America in 1994 when the United States hosted the tournament. 

Coming to Mexico, Canada and various major cities across the U.S., Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium is slated to host seven matches out of 104 — four group stage fixtures, a round of 32 game, a quarter-final tie and the bronze final. 

The stadium already houses the Miami Dolphins, the Miami Open tennis tournament, the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, the University of Miami Hurricanes, the Orange Bowl college football games and the Orange Blossom Classic.  

For Miami-Dade County and local government officials, the tournament has caused controversy over budgeting issues and fund allocations, given the city’s subsidizing the tournament and current budget conflicts. Despite requesting 10% spending cuts in the budget, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava released a memo this week suggesting the county allocate an extra $10.5 million this year for the global tournament. 

Boosting the pool of funds to a total of $21 million for World Cup spending, Levine Cava’s budget changes would result in service changes and reductions, with officials asserting these changes are efficiency investments and will eventually generate new dollars.  

The game must go on, keeping the nitty-gritty spending aspects in mind at the local and national level. For fans around the world, the tournament is not simply a series of soccer matches, but an opportunity for the world to come together for the love of the game.

“I think [the World Cup] it’s a unifying period. It’s lovely to go on social media and see what people are saying about the World Cup, because it’s such a unifying thing. Everyone around the world, they share [the] emotions, and I think it’s the universal feeling where you wake up every morning and you go to check your phone and you’re like, ‘What are the games today?’ Am I gonna watch the game between two third-world countries, one of them is dealing with mass poverty, the other one is at war with its neighbor, and they’re gonna play each other in this World Cup game, and it’s gonna be fire, and it’s just gonna be passion,” Miami Palmetto Senior High senior and sports research enthusiast Matteo Scalla said. “The standards are so much higher. It’s like the [Southeastern College Football Conference] it just means more, and I think that’s what’s most important.”