NEW YORK: Some 49 stadia across 44 cities in North America have been named on a list of proposed host venues for the 2026 World Cup by the bid committee.

This list features 34 cities in the United States, seven in Canada and three in Mexico as part of the joint bid. The United Bid Committee said that it had asked cities on the list to confirm their interest in staging matches by September 5.

The US would host three-quarters of the 80 games, with Mexico and Canada holding 10 each.

Three Los Angeles venues have been included on the list, as well as two in Dallas, Montreal and Toronto. All 32 NFL American football league stadia are on the  list, apart from Buffalo Bills’ New Era Field.

The bid committee will unveil a shortlist later this month and the cities will have until January 2018 to formulate their individual bids to be part of the World Cup, which looks highly likely to be held in North America, despite a rival bid by Morocco.

Final bid documents are due to be submitted to Fifa by March 16, 2018, with between 20 and 25 venues set to be included. About 12 venues will then be lined up for the tournament itself.

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