July 30 – Las Vegas will not be hosting World Cup matches next year, but it is set to roll the dice on football’s biggest lottery later this year, with the 2026 World Cup draw reportedly heading back to Sin City on December 5, because where else could you host the draw to the world’s ultimate sporting competition.
The Sphere, that $2.3 billion eyeball of excess that opened in 2023, stands as the frontrunner to host the ceremony for football’s expanded 48-team jamboree. With its 17,500-seat capacity and a massive LED screen, it is the perfect venue for FIFA’s new love affair with theatrical spectacle.
Back in 1994, when America last threw football’s greatest party, Las Vegas hosted the draw and FIFA obviously feel that ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, and who from the world governing body will turn down a free junket weekend in the City of Sin.
A cast of thousands including Barry Manilow, Julio Iglesias, Faye Dunaway, Dick Clark and Pele showed up atCeasars Palace lending gravitas to proceedings that would prove brutally unkind to the host nation. America found themselves dumped into Group A alongside Colombia, Romania, and Switzerland. A nightmare scenario that pitted them against Carlos Valderrama’s golden-locked Cafeteros and Romania’s emerging golden generation. Surely lightning won’t strike twice?
“I understand it will be in Las Vegas, and that’s where we need to be present,” confirmed Pedro Cedillo, a Pachuca executive advocating for Mexican training camps.
The 1994 draw delivered harsh lessons about tournament football’s unforgiving mathematics. Despite reaching the knockout stages, America’s group stage felt like survival rather than celebration. A cold reminder that hosting privileges guarantee nothing beyond home support unless…
The Sphere’s 54,000-square-meter screen will broadcast similar dreams and nightmares come December, determining which of the 48 nations might face their own nightmare group of death. The expanded format offers more safety nets than 1994’s brutal efficiency though, but Vegas remains the perfect venue for football’s ultimate game of chance.
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