A welcome sign at MetLife Stadium for the 2026 World Cup. (FIFA Photo)

Following the first venue visits that took place in September, FIFA is scheduled to start the second leg of its inspection tour of the World Cup 2026 candidate host cities.

Between Oct. 21 and Nov. 1, a delegation led by Concacaf president and FIFA vice president Victor Montagliani will visit Kansas City, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Monterrey, San Francisco and Seattle.

During each visit, the FIFA delegation will meet with local stakeholders and discuss key topics such as venue management, infrastructure and sustainability as well as commercial, legal and legacy matters. The visits also will include inspections of essential infrastructure, such as stadiums, training facilities and potential FIFA Fan Festival venues.

In a press release, FIFA stated that “the first nine candidate host cities visited during the initial leg set the bar high, clearly demonstrating their commitment and enthusiasm to be part of the largest single-sport event in the world. The delegation is eagerly looking forward to this next round of visits.”

The remaining U.S. and Mexican bidding venues, as well as those in Canada, will be visited by the end of November, with a view to performing a thorough assessment and finalizing the selection process by the first or second quarter in 2022.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.