The scope and scale of the spectacular FIFA World Cup 2026™ has been like nothing football, sports, nor the planet has ever seen.

Any caution or concern about whether a 48-team competition would be compelling, about whether three host nations could stage a seamless tournament – or about whether Canada, Mexico and the United States were the right host nations – has been swept away by capacity crowds (99.7% of available seats were filled), record-breaking viewership and enthusiastic, colourful fan bases that filled 16 Host City streets across North America.

“This World Cup has not just broken all possible records, it has smashed them. It has destroyed every record,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said following Spain’s title-clinching win over Argentina on Sunday, 19 July 2026 at the New York New Jersey Stadium. “We have had a record number of spectators in the stadiums, almost 7 million. We will have had, I mean the official figures will come out soon, but probably over 6 billion people watching it from home. The world was standing still.

“I think we have to invent a new vocabulary, new words to define the success of this World Cup.”

A significant portion of that historic response is a reflection of the unique, transcendent popularity of the FIFA World Cup™ itself. For 96 years, it has been an event that captivates the globe, delivers extraordinary drama, and generates enduring narratives and memories.

But another critical component of this summer’s success, especially in Canada and the United States, is the foundation laid 32 years ago by the FIFA World Cup USA 1994™.

“We wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for the (FIFA) World Cup in 1994, and we wouldn’t be able to show the world how popular and how passionate our country is for the global game if it wasn’t for getting granted this (FIFA) World Cup, in 2018,” said Major League Soccer (MLS) Commissioner Don Garber, who’s been at the helm of the USA’s top-tier professional league (which includes clubs in three Canadian cities) since 1999.

A case could be made that the FIFA World Cup USA 1994 is among the most impactful sporting events of all time, as it forever altered the football landscape across the world’s largest market. There were doubts about that tournament too, as the hosts were far from a mature football nation. So, in 1988, FIFA smartly awarded the event with a significant condition attached: launch a fully professional, first-division league.

The power of the FIFA World Cup proved inescapable, even in an unproven market, and the 1994 tournament exceeded all expectations. The cumulative attendance of more than 3.5 million (across 52 matches) stood as the all-time record for 32 years until it was smashed this summer by the 104-game extravaganza which has drawn 6.8 million fans. Inspired by football’s potential in the USA (and eventually Canada), a handful of intrepid investors stepped up. MLS kicked off two years later with 10 teams.

Success was far from overnight, but football finds a way. MLS survived early hardship, established momentum after the turn of the century and now comprises 30 clubs. It employs some of the sport’s biggest names, including Lionel Messi, and its average attendance typically ranks among the world’s top 10 domestic football leagues.

That growth has helped legitimise football as a major spectator sport across the U.S. and Canada (it was already well established and pre-eminent in football-mad Mexico). “Soccer” has skyrocketed, and the USA is now home to a 25-team second division (USL Championship), two third-tier leagues (MLS Next Pro and USL League One) and two fully professional women’s circuits (the National Women’s Soccer League and the USL Super League). Meanwhile, Canada has the eight-team Canadian Premier League (launched in 2019) and the six-team women’s Northern Super League (launched in 2025), in addition to MLS clubs in Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver.

Meanwhile, the U.S. men’s national team is consistently among the top 20 sides in the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking and just reached the round of 16 for the fourth time in the past five FIFA World Cups. When the 1994 tournament was awarded back in 1988, the Americans hadn’t qualified in 38 years. Canada have leapt an astonishing 90 spots in the World Ranking since 2017 and are currently ranked 30th, and at the FIFA World Cup 2026™, they earned their first point, their first win and their first run to the round of 16.

Every bit of it can be traced in one way or another back to 1994. A generation later, the conditions were ripe this summer for an unprecedented embrace of the FIFA World Cup.

“The MLS and specifically [Don Garber] has done a tremendous job in building the league, but also building, not just clubs, but infrastructure. If it wasn’t for MLS, we wouldn’t have a lot of the infrastructure that the teams used here,” said Concacaf President and Vice President of the FIFA Council Victor Montagliani, who hails from Vancouver, Canada.

“When it comes to the hardware part – the commercialisation, the infrastructure – I think we probably are obviously world leaders in that, as we can see by this FIFA World Cup,” he added.

“The commitment that the U.S. made to FIFA in ’94 was ‘we’ll build a first division men’s league,” Mr Garber added. “And now that league, to Victor (Montagliani)’s point, has really fuelled this new generation of both infrastructure and fan support.”

So what sort of legacy remains for the FIFA World Cup 2026 to establish? Plenty, it turns out, because the football journey that the U.S. and Canada began more than three decades ago is far from finished. Both have come a long way, but the ambition to make their clubs, leagues and men’s national teams among the best on the planet remains (both the U.S. and Canadian women’s teams are already world class).

That is where this summer’s tournament comes in. The FIFA World Cup 1994™ sparked the development of that infrastructure. The mainstream impact of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ suggests that it will transform the culture of the two North American nations where football still has ample room to grow.

“It’s been tremendous, and way beyond my expectation in terms of how people have consumed this (FIFA) World Cup, and the lasting memories from individuals and a lot of the anecdotes that you see,” Mr Montagliani said. “Obviously the viewing numbers in the domestic markets – Canada, the U.S. and Mexico – have been tremendous. But what that correlates to is that a lot of the people that have viewed it are young people. And people that will remember this (FIFA) World Cup will remember a moment in the (FIFA) World Cup, whether it be a favourite player or a favourite team. That lasts for you forever.”

If 1994 was about bricks and mortar – the hardware – then 2026 is about hearts and minds. A legacy sparked by sold-out stadiums and packed FIFA Fan Festivals will take root in homes, schools and playgrounds across the continent.

“I think the (FIFA) World Cup has encapsulated, I think, what we’ve already started, but it’s kind of put some jet fuel into a cultural revolution, right? The cultural revolution of the sport. What I would call the software of the sport, which is fans, obviously, and obviously the football itself and the players,” Mr Montagliani continued. “What I think we saw here is the continuation but, really, the acceleration of what I think is the next frontier for us in North America, (which) is the cultural revolution of football going to the next level, encapsulating the dynamics of the family unit.”

Mr Montagliani is the son of Italian immigrants to Canada, and he said that people of his background “grew up speaking about football at the kitchen table”.

That was uncommon in the U.S. and Canada in years past “because there were other sports that dominated”.

But, he added, “That’s starting to happen now, thanks to leagues like MLS and other competitions. Now, you’re going to have kids speaking to their parents at the kitchen table, at breakfast, about ‘Oh, did you see that? Did you see that?’ To me, that’s what the start of the cultural revolution is”.

There is ample evidence that hosting a FIFA World Cup drives increases in outdoor football participation. According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), a U.S. trade association, participation climbed 4.5% in Russia during the year following the FIFA World Cup 2018™, and 8.1% in Qatar during the year after the FIFA World Cup 2022™. The SFIA found that the build-up to the 2026 tournament was enough to spark a promising 15.8% increase in football participation in the U.S. between 2024 and 2025. It estimated that there were 16.8 million players in the nation last year.

Mr Garber and Mr Montagliani hope that number will continue to rise and spark increased development and increased demand.

“You came here for the (FIFA) World Cup. You’re going to leave with an opportunity to support an MLS team,” Mr Garber said. “By the way, support an NWSL (National Women’s Soccer League) team, support another professional soccer team. Get involved in the game at the youth level. Let’s not make this a rock concert tour. Well, let’s make this a great legacy for the future of soccer in America.”

Mr Montagliani added: “I remember my first (FIFA) World Cup as a kid in 1978. That’s a long time ago. And that never leaves you. So this indelible moment, from the young consumer, will transcend the sport, and I think you'll see ripple effects of it. Not just the obvious, you know, all the markers that we use: economic impact and all that. I think you’re going to see a cultural revolution in terms of how the sport is viewed and how the sport is consumed by people in North America”.

Thanks to football’s sturdier foundation and increasing popularity in the two developing football nations, along with the tournament’s saturation of mainstream news, social media and conversation in June and July 2026, the circumstances are ideal for a permanent upgrade in the beautiful game’s status that wasn’t possible in the 1990s.

“I'm very happy because what we did is, we made millions of people in America and around the world happy,” Mr Infantino said. “We have seen images and scenes of fans in the stadiums, in the cities, in America, in Canada, in Mexico, all over the world, which are unique. And this reminds us that football in the (FIFA) World Cup is not just a competition, but it's actually there to unite the world and to make, maybe, the world a little bit better.”

That phenomenon was evident even to someone relatively new to North America. In recent days, French legend and FIFA World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann has been following Les Bleus and meeting the media as he prepares to begin the next chapter of his glittering career with Orlando City SC. He did not need Mr Garber’s and Mr Montagliani’s decades of experience to see the revolution that is underway.

“It’s good for the MLS that there’s a (FIFA) World Cup going on, as it makes more children want to play football and shows them that this sport is the best in the world,” Griezmann said. “It’s a spectacle. Every match is a show, and I’m sure lots of children will have watched these fantastic players on TV, and they’ll want to take up football. So, I think it’s perfect for football here in the United States and I am sure there will be more children playing football."