Eleven US cities that hosted 2026 FIFA World Cup matches say FIFA promised each city $1 million in legacy funds for football infrastructure and social projects but have not received the payments yet [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. The cities include Seattle, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Atlanta, Philadelphia, New York/New Jersey, Miami, and Boston [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].
The 2026 World Cup took place across the US, Mexico, and Canada from June 11 to July 19, lasting 39 days and ending with Spain winning the tournament [1, 2, 3]. FIFA reportedly had a budget of approximately $2.7 billion for the event, within a broader 2023-26 revenue cycle that reached $15 billion, partly due to the expanded 48-team format [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
Although FIFA President Gianni Infantino publicly announced $1 million legacy contributions to cities hosting the 2025 Club World Cup, no similar public statement confirmed such funds for the 2026 World Cup US host cities [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. However, multiple executives at the US host cities said FIFA senior management verbally assured them repeatedly they would receive these payments. One executive said, "Fifa management repeatedly assured the cities they would receive the same US$1 million contribution towards legacy, despite no public statement ever being made by the organization" [5].
FIFA has declined to comment publicly about the unpaid legacy payments to the US host cities [1, 2, 3]. The controversy has added to ongoing criticism faced by Infantino and FIFA governance, including backlash over a recently abandoned plan to privatize World Cup investment [4, 5, 6].
The US host cities have made their claims public as of early August 2026, actively seeking updates from FIFA on these promised legacy funds [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. FIFA has not issued any official response regarding the payments amid this scrutiny [1, 6].
