On 11 June, the eyes of football fans around the globe will turn towards Mexico City, where Mexico will host South Africa in the first game of the World Cup. The tournament is split across Mexico, Canada, and the USA, and is set to be the biggest ever, with 48 teams as opposed to the usual 32.
The logistics of hosting sports’ biggest events can take decades to plan, and more teams than ever also means more fans. One thing that the hosts will have to consider is whether the stadiums are accessible enough to ensure that all fans are able to enjoy the tournament.
But are the 2026 host stadiums up to scratch? At AskGamblers, we investigated the accessibility credentials of all 16 host stadiums to find out.
How Did We Determine Accessibility?
There’s plenty that goes into determining accessibility, but in order to turn our findings into scores, we examined six key factors. These were:
- Entrances: The percentage of entrances at stadiums that were accessible.
- Drop-off areas: The number of drop-off areas at each stadium.
- Accessible toilets: The number of accessible toilets throughout the stadium.
- Accessibility tools: Tools such as closed captions, assistive listening, braille signage, and any sensory kits or rooms available.
- Stadium wheelchairs: Whether there’s storage for wheelchairs, the number of on-site wheelchairs available, and whether wheelchair escorts are available.
- Additional accessibility facilities: Whether the stadiums had any additional accessibility features, such as hearing loops, accessible changing tables, or shuttle services.
Here’s how each of the cities and their stadiums rank for accessibility based on our research.
Once we gathered all of that information, we created brackets to allow us to give each of the cities and their stadiums a score. For example, if between 90% and 100% of the stadium’s entrances were accessible, they received a score of ten. If between 80% and 90% were accessible, they scored nine, and so on until we reached one point.
The stadiums would also each get an additional point added to their score for each additional accessibility facility they had available.
We used these brackets to award scores for each of the host cities across the six factors. After that, it was a simple case of adding them together and dividing by the total number of factors (six) to produce an average score.
All Three Mexican Stadiums Rank Last for Accessibility
All three of the Mexican host cities finish last in our accessibility ranking, with Guadalajara 13th on 2.92, Mexico City 14th on 2.5, and Monterrey 15th on 1.67.
Monterrey scored one on all factors aside from accessible entrances, where it scored four, and accessible toilets, where it scored two. However, even those high points are pretty low when compared to the other host cities. Only 40% of the Estadio BBVA’s entrances are accessible, the joint third lowest, and there are only 32 disabled toilets, the fourth lowest.
On top of that, Estadio BBVA lacked just about every feature that fans would require from an accessible stadium. Here are some of the accessibility features that aren’t available:
- Drop-off area
- Wheelchair escort
- Closed captioning
- Assisted listening
- Sensory needs tools
- Braille signage
- Wheelchair storage
- Wheelchairs for guests
LA Ranks Top for Accessibility
Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium topped our ranking with a score of 7.08 for accessibility. Although not the dizzying heights we might have expected to claim first place, LA performed strongly for accessible entrances (scoring 10), accessible toilets (scoring 9) and accessibility tools (scoring 9.5).
While only 40% of Monterey’s Estadio BBVA’s entrances are accessible, 100% of SoFi Stadium’s are, and there are 170 accessible toilets compared to BBVA’s 32. The LA host stadium also features closed captioning, assisted listening, braille signage, wheelchair storage, and two sensory needs rooms.
Additional accessibility features at SoFi Stadium include a dedicated phone line on event days for fans to call if they need assistance and three lifts specifically designed for wheelchair usage. The SoFi Stadium is well equipped to ensure that fans with accessibility needs who want to attend the 2026 World Cup have a comfortable and inclusive experience.
Dallas Close Behind in Second
Dallas’ AT&T Stadium was not far behind LA with a score of 6.96 for accessibility. It scored highly when it came to accessibility tools, with a 9.75, and scored two tens for drop-off areas and accessible toilets. There are 189 accessible toilets throughout the AT&T Stadium, which is second overall, behind only New York’s MetLife Stadium with 210.
Dallas’ stadium further ensures inclusivity with two drop-off areas, 16 accessible lifts and three rooms for those with sensory needs. It also features braille signage, assisted listening, closed captions and a shuttle service from the parking lot to the pitch for those with mobility issues.
Only Nine Cities Score Above Five for Accessibility
Although some of the stadiums, such as LA’s SoFi Stadium and Dallas’ AT&T Stadium, are well-prepared to host disabled fans, the majority aren’t.
It’s worth remembering that FIFA have made accessibility one of their primary goals for the 2026 World Cup. In their statement on stadium design, they said they ‘must be inclusive and accessible for all, including disabled people and people with limited mobility’.
When discussing how best to ensure accessibility, they said that host cities should ‘include consideration of the entire spectator journey and include all aspects of the match experience’. Those considerations extend to transport, retail areas, toilets, seating areas and concessions.
However, from our research, it’s evident that a number of the 2026 host cities fall well short of this goal. Only nine out of sixteen scored above five for accessibility, and even the best performer, LA, scored just 7.08.
All the Mexican host cities dropped below a score of three for accessibility, with none of the stadiums offering closed captioning, assisted listening, braille signage or wheelchairs for guests.
In light of poor accessibility scores across the board, it’s worth asking whether FIFA has really prioritised accessibility at the 2026 tournament.
Was Qatar 2022 More Accessible?
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is widely considered to be one of the most accessible versions of the tournament to date. It incorporated accessibility initiatives, such as Bonocle, an electronic device used to transform digital content into braille in real-time, which was used to give visually impaired fans access to football stats and articles.
Qatar was also the first World Cup to provide sensory rooms for those with autism. They were available for 27 matches with three additional mobile sensory rooms on offer as well. Improving accessibility included training over 15,250 volunteers and 12,900 security personnel in how to provide assistance to disabled people.
Some of the highlights in terms of accessibility at Qatar 2022 included:
- 22,592 accessible tickets were sold (equivalent to 96% of the accessible tickets available).
- 3 to 6 mobility assistance stations per stadium.
- 436 assistants dedicated to providing mobility assistance.
- Minimum of 22 wheelchairs and 10 golf carts to help those with limited mobility.
- Audio descriptive commentary available for all games and opening/closing games through a dedicated app. Commentators were specially trained in how to describe games for the visually impaired.
- Live sign language interpretation of musical performances.
- Sensory activities such as a freestanding musical wall and a tactile wall.
- 4.5 scored for satisfaction with World Cup infrastructure’s accessibility.
Is Accessibility Being Taken Seriously Enough at the 2026 World Cup?
There’s no denying that the 2026 World Cup falls some way short of the high accessibility standard set by the 2022 Qatar World Cup. The previous tournament scored 4.5 out of 5 with fans in terms of accessibility.
When we compare that to this year’s competition, where the highest scoring city of LA only bagged a score of 7.08 in our research, it’s clear that the same effort and attention isn’t being paid to accessibility.
With the 2026 World Cup less than a month away, there are concerns that the host stadiums won’t be as accessible as promised by FIFA. In many stadiums at the 2026 World Cup, there’s a notable lack of accessible entrances, toilets and tools, such as closed captioning and braille signage.
While all of this could leave disabled fans struggling to navigate the tournament, there’s hope that FIFA will be able to match their actions to their words to boost accessibility tools ahead of the first whistle.
