2026 FIFA World Cup Host Locations Plan Variety of Transport Options

For all of the logistics that come with hosting matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the biggest one for all of the U.S. host cities is this: How to get fans to the games.

Internationally, the ability to take mass transit to games is the tradition. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, fans used transit almost entirely to go from stadium to stadium. Few cars were used. But as anyone in the U.S. knows, sports fandom is a car culture that includes tailgating before events at football stadiums. While some cities have mass transit options, others have to create them for next summer.

“Communication with our residents is a huge piece of it,” said Pam Kramer, Kansas City Host Committee CEO. “Not only for the stadium piece and how they’ll get there, but actually that the number of parking spaces is going to be greatly reduced because of the overlay that FIFA has. So how we get them to try public transit and know that they’re going to have to take a bus — it’s going to require a massive communication effort.”

KC2026 in March signed a lease for 200 buses to be used during the tournament. The KC2026 bus system will complement existing bus routes on both sides of the state line, transporting people to matches, the FIFA Fan Festival, Kansas City International Airport, hotel centers and more. Kramer said there may be some events such as Chiefs games this fall where the system has a trial run.

“We have an opportunity to build a blueprint for a regional transit in our area,” she said, saying what could be a two-hour trip from KC to Olathe, Kansas, may be as quick as 30 minutes with the FIFA transit system setup. “If we can show that public transit is clean, safe, reliable and enjoyable, we think there is an opportunity to get people to try it, to support it and then to leave this legacy.”

The education part for the local community will be key for all markets, said Metro Atlanta Chamber President Katie Kirkpatrick, whose city has 14,000 hotel rooms within a mile of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium site (which during the World Cup will be known as Atlanta World Cup Stadium).

“When you think about arriving to the host city, we’ve got the best airport in the world, we have a wonderful transit system that has its direct access from the airport to downtown to the sports campus,” she said. “Education is always important, but the routes that your locals take to get to games is pretty similar to what our international visitors will experience as well. A lot of our local fans take Marta, which is our rapid transit system in Atlanta, or they take rideshare or they bike sometimes.

“Education will be really key when we talk about traffic patterns and that may change a little bit based on security perimeters and clean zones and those types of things,” Kirkpatrick said. “I feel very confident that the city of Atlanta will be able to educate the local community about access and importantly, because a lot of the local fans may not have access to a game. We want them to enjoy Fan Fest. We want an incredible fan experience, whether or not you’re inside the stadium or out, and it’s easily accessible because it’s right there next to the stadium.”

The final at MetLife Stadium will be one of the biggest tests for the transit system surrounding the East Rutherford, New Jersey, stadium. The mass transit reviews were harsh when it hosted the Super Bowl more than a decade ago; those surrounding the area project more confidence in the system now after a series of Taylor Swift concerts over Memorial Day Weekend.

“This isn’t the first sporting event for New York/New Jersey, this isn’t going to be the last major sporting event for New York/New Jersey,” said Alex Lasry, New York/New Jersey Host Committee CEO. “There’s not an event that New York/New Jersey hasn’t seen, and Governors Hochul and Murphy, Mayor Adams, have all been incredible partners throughout this entire planning event so I have the utmost confidence in the world in the professionals that we have running transportation, security and all the agencies, that this is going to be a seamless event.”