SEATTLE — Representatives from FIFA are visiting Seattle this week to scout the Emerald City as a possible host for the 2026 World Cup.
Members will tour Lumen Field, training centers and fan venues to make their evaluation.
Seattle is in the hunt for becoming one of the host cities, and the effort has been dubbed SEA-2026 by a committee that was formed to look into the idea.
Those involved include Mayor Jenny Durkan and Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.
FIFA is looking at several different host cities across Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. On this leg of its tour, the delegation is also visiting Kansas City, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Monterrey and San Francisco.
During each visit, the delegation meets with local stakeholders to discuss topics such as venue management, infrastructure, sustainability, commercial, legal and legacy matters, according to a press release.
“Our stadium, our city I believe is built for World Cup. I mean that stadium was built for these types of games. So I’m hoping whatever FIFA sees is positive. And you know we get some games, that would be unbelievable,” Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said.
If Seattle is selected, there would be at least one game of the World Cup played at Lumen Field.
The selection process should be finalized by early to mid-2022.