Feb. 4—The world’s most popular, most-watched sports event is coming to Seattle. Six times.

One of those matches will be a marquee one: the United States Men’s National Team in a first-round match at Lumen Field.

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) announced Sunday the home stadium of Seattle’s NFL Seahawks and MLS Sounders will host six matches when the World Cup comes to the U.S., Mexico and Canada in the summer of 2026.

Four of Seattle’s matches will be in the first, group stage. Two will be in the subsequent elimination, “knockout,” rounds.

One of Seattle’s four group-stage matches will be the United States playing at Lumen Field June 19, 2026, versus an opponent to be determined by group draw.

The other group-stage matches in Seattle will be June 15, 24 and 26, 2026.

The 69,000-seat Lumen Field will also host a round-of-32 knockout match July 1 and round-of-16 elimination match July 6, 2026.

Dallas is the U.S. city hosting the most 2026 World Cup matches, nine. Los Angeles, New York/New Jersey and Atlanta will host eight matches each. Vancouver, British Columbia, Boston, Houston and Miami each will host seven matches.

Seattle joins the San Francisco Bay Area, Philadelphia, Kansas City and Toronto in each hosting six matches.

The 2026 World Cup will have an expanded, 48-team field with 104 total matches. Its organizers tout it as “the biggest sporting event ever.”

The hometown Sounders are already trumpeting these matches as the grandest events the soccer-rich Pacific Northwest has ever seen.

“I’ve stated previously that bringing the FIFA World Cup to Seattle is perhaps the biggest moment in the soccer history of our region, but today’s news makes that feeling all the more real,” Sounders FC majority owner Adrian Hanauer said Sunday in a statement released through the club. “To be hosting FIFA World Cup matches in and of itself is a momentous thing, but to see the United States Men’s National Team playing in the Emerald City on the world’s biggest stage is an honor.

“As a born-and-bred Seattleite, today’s news is remarkable and has the potential to take our sport to new heights. For every soccer fan in our region, 2026 is going to be really special, and for the fans from across our nation and around the world coming to Seattle, we are eager to welcome you all.

“On behalf of the city of Seattle and our entire local organizing committee, we cannot wait to begin playing FIFA World Cup matches at Lumen Field in just two years’ time.”

Seattle is one of 11 stadiums in the U.S. that had already been chosen as host venues for the 2026 World Cup. FIFA selected Seattle two years ago as a host city for this.

“Seattle is an incredible sports town that has supported soccer with passion at all levels for over five decades, so I see this as a reward to the fans in this community,” said Sounders FC general manager Craig Waibel, a Portland native who played collegiately at Washington then for the Sounders from 1999-2000, and again in parts of the 2001 and ’02 seasons. “On top of experiencing six games featuring the most competitive athletes in the biggest tournament on the planet, we get the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to support our country at the World Cup in our hometown.

“I think about the generation of fans and players that this moment will inspire, and as a native of the Pacific Northwest, I’m humbled, thankful and excited for 2026.”

The World Cup as a state event

Organizers are estimating more than 2 billion viewers worldwide will watch the Seattle matches on television. That has local leaders excited to show off their cities and region, both to fans traveling to the Pacific Northwest to watch their national teams in person plus the mammoth global TV audience.

“The FIFA World Cup 2026 and Seattle’s world-class soccer fans are a perfect combination,” Seattle mayor Bruce Harrell said in statement Seattle’s World Cup organizing committee issued Sunday. “By hosting six matches, Seattle is thrilled to welcome people around the globe to our region, showcase the best of our city, and create a once-in-a-lifetime experience for fans, visitors and residents.”

King County Executive Dow Constantine said the 2026 World Cup matches “will be among the largest events in our region’s history, and King County is ready to ensure their success.”

Tacoma leaders hope the 2026 World Cup is so large fans from around the world will make their way south to the “City of Destiny” and Pierce County in the days surrounding the six matches in Seattle.

“Tacoma is eager to welcome fans, players and visitors from around the world who will be traveling to Puget Sound for the World Cup.” Tacoma mayor Victoria Woodards said in a statement issued by the Seattle World Cup organizing committee Sunday. “We said it at the last World’s Fair and it is just as true today: You will love Tacoma!”

Tacoma’s and Seattle’s mayors were among five in Washington quoted by Seattle World Cup organizers Sunday. Everett’s, Renton’s and Spokane’s mayors also commented. Organizers are seeking to make the 2026 World Cup a state-wide event.

FIFA and the Seattle organizing committee have been scouting potential sites for training for the 2026 World Cup matches. Tacoma is likely too far from the World Cup game venue for national teams to train here before their matches in 2026. The last time the U.S. Men’s National Team played a match in Seattle, a few years ago, it trained before it at Seattle University near Lumen Field.

SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, just outside Los Angeles will host the U.S.’ first match of group-stage play. Mexico City is the host for the first match of the World Cup.

The Meadowlands in New Jersey just across the Hudson River from New York City is the site of the 2026 World Cup final. That’s on July 19.