Transit Without Transformation at the 2026 FIFA World Cup

This paper examines how the 2026 FIFA World Cup has influenced transit investment across its 16 host cities in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. While mega-events are often promoted as infrastructure catalysts, findings indicate the 2026 World Cup functions primarily as a scheduling and framing device rather than a generator of new transit systems. Major rapid-transit expansions directly tied to the event are limited and concentrated largely in Mexico, where centralized authority has accelerated several significant projects. In the U.S. and Canada, fragmented governance and suburban stadium locations constrain new fixed-guideway investment. Most host cities instead rely on corridor improvements, station upgrades, and operational adjustments. The multi-country format further diffuses political incentives for exceptional infrastructure delivery. Overall, in mature, decentralized transportation systems, mega-events are more likely to reshape timelines around existing projects than to produce transformative mobility legacies.