LA28 announces stadiums from New York to California to host 2028 Olympic soccer matches

Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times on Feb 3, 2026

Published in Olympics

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

MILAN — LA28 announced Tuesday the six U.S. stadiums that will host Olympic soccer group stage games while revealing a plan to have preliminary games move East to West to minimize travel demands. Instead of criss-crossing the country for the group-stage games, teams will advance in the tournament and move progressively closer to the knockout rounds held at the Rose Bowl.

The country-wide tournament footprint begins in New York at New York City FC's new Etihad Park, which is scheduled to open in 2027. The venue in Queens is the first soccer-specific stadium in New York City.

Purpose-built stadiums were the focus of the venue plan, with five of the six stadiums being primarily affiliated with Major League Soccer clubs. The Columbus Crew's ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, Nashville SC's Geodis Park, St. Louis CITY SC's Energizer Park and the San José Earthquakes' PayPal Park were also selected for group games.

Snapdragon Stadium, the shared home of San Diego State football, San Diego FC and San Diego Wave FC, figures to host some of the last group games as it is geographically closest to the Rose Bowl, where final stage games begin on July 24, 2028.

"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," Shana Ferguson, LA28 chief of sport and Games delivery officer, said in a statement.

Group-stage soccer matches are often spread across venues in a country during the Olympics, with a stadium in the host city holding the final games. The Rose Bowl will host the men's gold-medal match on July 28, 2028 and the women's tournament ends on July 29.

For the first time, the Olympic soccer tournament will feature more women's teams than men's. The switch to expand the women's field to 16 teams while capping the men's tournament at 12 teams contributed to making the 2028 Games the first female-majority Olympic Games.

LA28 also announced it is working with the International Olympic Committee on an extended competition window that could start preliminary matches before the opening ceremony on July 14, 2028, to allow for increased recovery time between matches.

Schedules and match distribution for each stadium will be announced before the first ticket purchasing window in April 2026. Despite the expanded venue list that brings Olympic competition to six new cities, a presale beginning on April 2 will be limited to locals in Southern California and Oklahoma City, which will host multiple sports including softball.