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FIFA to announce 2026 World Cup host cities Thursday

Denver is one of 17 cities in the United States vying to host the world's biggest soccer tournament.

DENVER — FIFA will announce this Thursday which cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico will host the 2026 World Cup soccer games. The announcement is expected around 3 p.m. MT. 

Denver is one of 17 U.S. cities that have submitted bids to host games in the World Cup. Ten or potentially 11 cities in the United States will be chosen, along with cities in Mexico and Canada.

> The video above is from October: FIFA visits Denver as city bids to host 2026 World Cup games

"I feel good. Our energy is cautiously optimistic," said Matthew Payne, Executive Director of the Denver Sports Commission. "We feel good about how our bid has been received. Our bid represents thousands of hours of work from our bid committee."

Denver has been working on the bid to host World Cup games since 2018. FIFA executives visited Denver in October 2021 for a site tour to see the city and stadium. If Denver is chosen, the games would be played at Empower Field at Mile High, the only stadium in Denver large enough to host World Cup games.

Just last week, the Denver Broncos were sold to a new owner, pushing the future of Empower Field into more uncertainty. The new owners will have to choose whether to add upgrades to Empower Field or build a new stadium. 

RELATED: Will the Denver Broncos' new owners seek a new stadium?

Payne said he doesn't think that will impact FIFA's decision. 

"I don’t think it’ll play a role for the announcement on Thursday and whether or not we will get chosen," Payne said in a conversation with 9NEWS. "Realistically, Empower Field has been highly viewed as one of the best in the country and helped our bid. I don’t think it will impact our bid, especially in 2026. 2026 is right around the corner."

October was the only time FIFA executives visited Denver, though Payne said the Denver bid committee has been in contact over the phone and over Zoom with FIFA, soccer's governing body.

RELATED: FIFA visits Denver as city bids to host 2026 World Cup games

RELATED: FIFA hears Denver's pitch for 2026 World Cup games

While Denver says it is prepared to play host to the largest soccer tournament in the world, FIFA looks at several factors that could impact whether it picks Colorado to host some of the games. 

"We’re the only city in the Mountain time zone in contention to host games," Payne said. "That could be an advantage. But you also have the challenge that FIFA may want cities to be closer together. I don’t think that’s a barrier to us being chosen."

FIFA will announce which cities are chosen on Thursday, but will not announce how many games they will host or which teams will play there. Those announcements will come later.

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