Hard Rock Stadium lands 7 matches of 2026 World Cup, including quarterfinal, consolation

Hard Rock Stadium was awarded seven matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Sunday including a quarterfinal and the consolation match.

In June and July of 2026, the Dolphins’ home also will be the site of four first-round matches, plus a match in the new round-of-32 knockout stage, which becomes necessary as FIFA expends the field to 48 teams. Hard Rock’s matches will run from Monday, June 16, to Saturday, July 18.

“We’re ecstatic,” said Rodney Barreto, co-chair of the Miami Host Committee with Beau Ferrari of NBCUniversal. “It’s going to be exciting for football fans. And it's a whole new level for South Florida and Miami.”

MetLife Stadium, home of the New York Jets and Giants, was awarded the final on July 19.

The United States is co-hosting the tournament with Canada and Mexico. The opening match of the tournament will be June 11 in Mexico City’s historic Azteca Stadium.

“We will put on the biggest spectacle the universe has ever seen,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said.

Matchups for each stadium won’t be known until late next year, after qualifying is completed, although the United States will play all three of its group matches on the West Coast. Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium was awarded the opening match for the U.S. team. Ticket information also is to be announced. Fans can pre-register for tickets at FIFA.com.

Sunday’s announcement caps a local wait that began in June 2022 when FIFA revealed that Hard Rock was selected as a site. The level of matches assigned was not surprising. Before the 2018 World Cup in Russia, FIFA released an evaluation report on all cities and regions competing to host matches. Hard Rock Stadium’s “highest proposed match category” was listed as “quarterfinal or third place.” So from that point of view, Sunday was a double victory for Miami Gardens.

Barreto is no stranger to organizing such events. He’s a third-time chairman of the South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee, most recently serving in that capacity for the February 2020 game at Hard Rock. Because of the intense global interest in the World Cup, he now faces the challenge of staging seven mega sporting events, not one, over a five-week span.

“We’ve always come up to the challenges, so we’d like a good challenge,” Barreto said. “We can’t just do the same thing. I’m sure we’ll all come together and it’ll work out.”

Co-chair Rodney Barreto: This will be a regional event

FIFA knows ticket demand will far exceed supply, so it’s requiring hosts to include events for fans without tickets, similar to the NFL’s Super Bowl Experience.

“We'll have all kinds of activations throughout the community,” Barreto said. “And we'll make sure the fans feel like they're part of it. But yes, that is a concern. But it's one that all these major events have.”

Barreto plans to include the entire tri-county area, although he pointed out he already has had his arm twisted to not forget about Monroe County.

“This is going to be a regional event,” Barreto said. “It’s got to be. All the regions are going to benefit from it through the airports, hotels, transportation, restaurants. It’s phenomenal.”

Tom Garfinkel, vice chairman, president and CEO of the Dolphins and the stadium, called the inclusion of Miami in the world’s largest sporting event “an incredible moment for Miami-Dade County.” Argentina’s victory in the last Cup final was seen by nearly 1.5 billion.

Joe Robbie's vision for stadium is realized

This culminates a dream of original Dolphins owner Joe Robbie, who built the stadium with his own money not just for the Dolphins, but with the World Cup in mind. The other World Cup in the United States, in 1994, bypassed Miami in favor of Orlando because of scheduling conflicts with the Marlins.

At one point, Garfinkel made a pitch to FIFA for the final, but the three regions considered for that honor — Dallas, Los Angeles and New York/New Jersey — have facilities considerably larger than Hard Rock.

The third-place match offers players a final shot at earning a World Cup medal and sometimes is more free-flowing than the pressure-packed final. Since 2002, the consolation match has averaged 3.7 goals, with Croatia beating Morocco 2-1 in the 2022 edition in Qatar.

The first-round matches at Hard Rock are scheduled for June 16 (a Monday), June 21 (Sunday), June 24 (Wednesday) and June 26 (Friday). The round-of-32 match will be on July 3 (Friday), the quarterfinal on July 11 (Saturday) and the consolation on July 18 (Saturday).

Since Dolphins training camp typically begins in late July, there should be no conflicts with the team even if World Cup sides use the complex for training.

Hard Rock Stadium also will host matches in this summer’s Copa America tournament, including the final on July 14.

Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at hhabib@pbpost.com. Follow him on social media @gunnerhal. Click here to subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Hard Rock Stadium lands 2026 World Cup quarterfinal, consolation