The LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games announced Monday six additional venues across the United States will hold matches for the 2028 Olympic Football (Soccer) Tournaments as registration opens for the LA28 Olympic Ticket Draw through March 18.
The group stage and knockout matches will lead to final stage matches at Rose Bowl Stadium, including gold medal matches on July 28, 2028, for the men's tournament and July 29, 2028, for the women's tournament. Selected stadiums span the country from east to west, including venues in New York; Columbus, Ohio; Nashville, Tennessee; St. Louis, Missouri; San José, California; and San Diego.
"Bringing Olympic Football group stage and knockout matches to stadiums across the United States means more fans will witness this global event and experience the Olympic spirit firsthand," said Shana Ferguson, LA28 chief of sport and games delivery officer.
LA28 worked closely with Soccer United Marketing, Major League Soccer's commercial arm, to evaluate stadiums nationwide to ensure chosen venues meet the highest international standards. The review process prioritized purpose-built stadiums while assessing each stadium's ability to host world-class competitions and engage local communities.
Given the geographic footprint, LA28 is developing a match distribution allowing competition to move progressively from east to west as teams advance toward final stages, minimizing travel demands. To support athlete well-being and allow increased recovery time between matches, the International Olympic Committee and LA28 are considering an extended competition window, with preliminary matches taking place before the Opening Ceremony.
The schedule for both tournaments, including dates and match distribution per stadium, will be announced before the first ticket drop in April 2026. Specific team matchups will be revealed later following further progress in the LA28 Olympic qualification process and the official tournament draw.
Newly announced stadiums include New York Stadium, future home of New York City Football Club; Columbus Stadium, home of Columbus Crew; Nashville Stadium, home of Nashville Soccer Club; St. Louis Stadium, home of St. Louis CITY Soccer Club; San José Stadium, home of San Jose Earthquakes and Bay Football Club; and San Diego Stadium, home of San Diego Football Club, San Diego Wave Football Club and San Diego State University.
For the first time in Olympic history, more women's soccer teams than men's will be featured, with the women's competition expanding to 16 teams and the men's tournament adjusting to 12 teams. LA28 will become the first Olympic Games where all team sports feature at least as many women's teams as men's.
More information can be found on LA28's ticketing page at https://www.la28.org/tickets.
Edited by SMDP Staff