Seahawks' Lumen Field to Host World Cup 2026: 'Like a Super Bowl!'
With the hiring of new head coach Mike Macdonald, the Seattle Seahawks are hoping to rebuild a team that last played in a Super Bowl in 2015. It was that same year that city officials began their own construction project - to bring the World Cup to the Pacific Northwest in 2026.
While we have to wait and see if Macdonald can restore the Seahawks' success led by former coach Pete Carroll, the soccer recruiting mission came to fruition Sunday as Seattle's Lumen Field was awarded six games in the world's biggest sporting event.
Seattle will host four group-stage matches in World Cup 2026, including the U.S. playing on June 19. Other group-stage matches will be on June 15, 24 and 26. It will also be the site of two knockout-round matches in soccer's version of the Sweet 16 on July 1 and 6.
"We're talking about a global event," Seattle's Office of Economic Development director Markham McIntyre said at a press conference in 2022. "It's kind of like having a Super Bowl for each one of these games."
Lumen Field - the 69,000-seat capacity venue nestled in Seattle's SODO neighborhood that is home to the Seahawks and Major League Soccer's Sounders FC - is one of 11 stadiums hosting games in the U.S.
Lumen's turf will be replaced with natural grass for the tournament.
The FIFA World Cup announced Sunday that MetLife Stadium - New York/New Jersey - will host the 2026 championship match. The tournament will be hosted by "North America," with games also played in Canada and the opener hosted at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Dallas' AT&T Stadium and Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium were awarded the two semifinals.
The quadrennial international soccer tournament - which features 48 nations and 104 games spread over a month - is far and away the most-watched sporting event on the planet. The 2022 final match between Argentina and France drew 1.5 billion viewers. Last season's Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles mustered a relatively puny 115 million.
These will be the first World Cup matchups played in the Pacific Northwest since Portland hosted matches for the 1999 and 2003 Women's World Cups.
Said Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell in a tweet after the announcement:
"Seattle is counting down the days until we get to welcome soccer fans from around the globe for the FIFA World Cup! Excited to cheer on the United States men's national team and create a once-in-a-lifetime experience for fans, visitors, and residents."
