Why Chicago Is Not Hosting a Single World Cup Match

Chicago is the third-largest city in the United States. It hosted a World Cup knockout match in 1994, when Germany beat Belgium 3-2 at Soldier Field.

In 2026, the largest World Cup in history is being played across 16 cities in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Chicago is not one of them.

The reason is one of the stranger stories in the entire bidding process.

The Dome Clause

Rahm Emanuel was Chicago’s mayor when the city entered World Cup bidding back in 2017. He recently told The Athletic what actually killed the deal, and it wasn’t simply about money.

FIFA wanted a clause in the hosting contract giving itself the right to demand a dome be built over Soldier Field, at the city’s expense, if FIFA later decided it wanted the stadium covered. Soldier Field has been open-air since 1924.

Emanuel pushed back and asked FIFA to drop the clause. FIFA refused, even while admitting it had never actually invoked a clause like that in any other host city.

He wasn’t willing to bet Chicago taxpayers’ money on a promise that it probably wouldn’t happen. As he later put it, the arrangement amounted to treating the city’s taxpayers as the dumb money at the table.

• Estimated cost of the dome: $50 million to $100 million
• Who would decide whether to trigger it: FIFA alone
• Chicago’s vote in that decision: none

More Than Just the Dome

The dome was the headline issue, but it wasn’t the only one.

FIFA’s contract also pushed Chicago to absorb public spending commitments, security costs, transportation obligations, and a string of tax-related demands.

The city’s own financial review found no guarantee Chicago would come out ahead once all those obligations were tallied. Emanuel’s office said plainly in its 2018 withdrawal statement that FIFA couldn’t offer basic certainty on the major financial unknowns putting the city and its taxpayers at risk.

Chicago Wasn’t Alone

Minneapolis also walked away from the same bidding process, in the same month. The Minneapolis Bid Committee cited an inability to negotiate liability protections and unclear cost estimates — including the possibility of hosting six games and a fan festival running up to a month. Vancouver dropped out too, rejecting FIFA’s tax waiver demands and a requirement to place agreements under Swiss law.

All three withdrawals landed within days of each other in March 2018, which says less about any one city and more about how FIFA structures these deals across the board.

FIFA typically keeps control of ticketing, broadcasting, concessions, and parking revenue. Host cities cover policing, transit, medical services, and whatever surprise costs come up along the way.

What Chicago Lost

The financial case for hosting is genuinely debatable, plenty of economists argue the local economic benefit of these tournaments runs smaller than cities expect.

The cultural cost is harder to measure. The Chicago Fire have played in MLS since 1998, and the city’s Polish, Mexican, and Eastern European communities have built some of the most passionate local soccer culture in the country.

Soldier Field hosted a match in the opening round of the 1994 World Cup. This time, that history counts for nothing. The stadium sits idle while Seattle, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia take their turn under the lights.

Looking Back

Eight years later, Emanuel still doesn’t regret the call. Other host cities are now wrestling with exactly what he warned about; ballooning security bills, transit strain, and costs with no clear ceiling.

But it only took one mayor willing to walk away. A different mayor, with different priorities, might have signed without blinking, and nothing stops that from happening the next time FIFA comes calling.